


Empty

by FluffyPieCake



Category: One Direction (Band), Zayn Malik (Musician)
Genre: M/M, Magic, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-07-27 02:59:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 11
Words: 43,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7600813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FluffyPieCake/pseuds/FluffyPieCake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When you are surrounded by nothing but darkness … You start to remember.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So, I was watching 'Black Butler' recently and I really wanted to make another 'supernatural' fiction. It's another Zarry, cuz … they are just my OTP. So I hope u like it!  
> I know I'm currently writing another 2 fictions, and I'll do my best to update all of them. Feedback is always appreciated, thanks ^u^  
> I also wanted to say that I have a wattpad account if you're there, the link is in my profile.

In a world where humans lived side by side with other supernatural beings, A group was formed to protect the humans from these beings called 'The Elders' which consisted of a certain number of people who are capable of using magic, to put those who didn't obey the rules to _sleep_.

And it happened quite _frequent_. Groups of those beings whether lead by someone or not, made occasional _disasters_. The Elders were fast to make a _deal_ , no harm happens to them as long as they as well do no harm to the humans. And they accepted.

However, there were those 'unique' who were capable of _avoiding_ The Elders. They possessed high powers and worked _solo_ , never in big groups in order not to be caught, and in the same time, being able to do whatever, whenever freely.

But it wasn't that 'freely' some of them were not capable of walking among the humans because of their 'appearance' while others could. But The Elders _are_ capable of locating them. And if they break a rule, they're _hunted down_.

The Elders were also of high position within the humans, but others remained in the shadow. Those were most capable of doing the _extra_ damage. Some of them were known while others always kept their faces _covered_. Much like the supernatural beings who are covered by the darkness of the night. And that was the catch. Not many people knew how most of the other creatures looked like, and developed many myths about them.


	2. <<1>>

He's sitting at a top of a hill, looking down at the town beneath him. He keeps humming, his eyes roaming around to spot his next _prey_.

He is not a _vampire_ , nor he needs to feed off human flesh. He simply does it for _fun_. And The Elders could never catch him, so what's the harm?

A smile appears on his face as he spots a man is his twenties, he keeps his eyes on him as he spreads his wings and starts to fly down. His form is like any other human form except he has wings. He uses his magic powers to give him a speed boost as he approaches a dark alley.

His wings are bent behind his back, and the darkness of the night makes it harder to see his form. He smirks as his target comes closer and he pulls him in the alley, muffling his mouth. He spreads his wings again and flies away, taking the man with him.

Once he's back at the hill he drops the man to the ground, and the man groans from the sudden contact and he quickly looks up in fear once he notice the creature in front of him.

"P-Please don't hurt me" he begs.

He hums for a while before answering, "But you see, it's either you … or your beautiful wife and kid" he smirks. He was keeping an eye on his family as well. "You shouldn't really keep your windows open. Creatures like us can see very far from the human's eyes"

The man gulps and stays silent, making the creature in front of him grins widely as he approaches him. He takes his time sliding his sharp nails across the man's body making the man scream loudly. And he _enjoys_ it. It's like music to his ears. He keeps humming to the man's screams as he starts cutting small pieces of flesh. He likes an agonizing death. So he takes it _very_ slow.

He digs his fingernails to the man's body and starts tracing his blood over the man's chest. He calls it 'art' drawing a masterpiece on each victim. And he's known. The humans know about him, but not exactly. They don't know how he looks like, but they can identify his victims due to the way he's marking them.

The man blackouts from the pain but he isn't dead yet. So he keeps slicing his body until he does. He stands up, not caring of cleaning his mess, it's not near his home anyway so he doesn't care if someone finds the man's body here.

He goes for a river to wash himself, and gets back to the town. You see, he isn't really _faithful_. He doesn't keep his promise. And he doesn't care of doing so. He reaches the man's house and gets inside from the window. The wife notices him and she's about to scream but he quickly nods to the baby sleeping next to her on the bed and puts a finger on her lips as if asking her to keep quiet.

"Scream & I'll kill your baby"

The woman nods slowly. And he trains his eyes down her body. He could use some fun. He smirks leading her out of the room and pushing her on the bed. He goes rough, muffling her mouth with a cloth. He does it twice, leaving the woman in pain, body numb and eyes are drained of tears.

But he never leaves anyone who sees him alive. Because someone might lead The Elders to him, and he doesn’t want that. He's still young. And he is considered a _new born_ within the other creatures. Their kind are able to live for hundreds of years. And he just reached his second decade three years ago.

So it isn't a surprise when he cuts her head off and gets off the bed heading for the child.

"Poor thing" he whispers before making his sharp nails dig into the baby's chest grasping his heart and pulling it out throwing it behind him to land somewhere on the floor. He quickly gets out of the house and flies back to his home.

His home isn't that much. It's located deep inside a cave, far away from the humans. He has only a bed there next to his food supply. He doesn’t have anything fancy, not even money, but he doesn't need any of this. When he needs something, he gets to steal it at night. And he is satisfied with his life.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

The next day is just like any other. And he gets up at night for his 'fun play' with the humans. He isn't doing it out of nothing. His whole family was killed when he was 10 by the humans, so he despised them and swore on _revenge_.

He goes for a random this time, not caring of tracing anyone as he hides in a dark alley again. Someone stumbles in the alley and he grins widely, his prey came to him on its own feet. It appears to be a man in his twenties just like the former one, but his body is more built. He notices someone leaning on the wall and gets closer.

"What does a pretty thing like you doing outside at that hour of the night?" the guy asks, making the creature laughs loudly.

The man puts his hands on either side of his face but the creature isn't fazed, he is rather amused by the situation. The man eyes him for a while, and he notices the wings but he doesn't care that much. He's smaller and doesn't look like he can do any harm with his small figure. He gets closer to his ears and whispers, "Bet you'd feel so good around me"

The creatures is still amused by the human and he tilts his head to the side humming, "Yeah" he replies as the human's hands start travelling from their position on the wall to the creature's side. And that's the farthest he gets to go as he's pushed harshly on the opposite wall. "But you'd never get to feel it"

He uses his magic to make him stronger as he rips the man's clothes off. He could use a fuck today, he doesn't mind. He doesn't care about preparation as he shoves inside the man's hole making him scream in pain. And who the hell does he think himself? He never bottoms for anyone. And he surely won't bottom for a clumsy human.

He doesn't stop when the man is bleeding, because he doesn't care. He slides off when he's satisfied and drops the man to the floor. He's about to kill him when he hears a familiar voice behind him muttering a _spell_.

He quickly flies off as fast as he can to get out of town. But he doesn't get to go as far as he hits an invisible barrier making him fall to the ground. He gets up to find himself inside a circle and five Elders around the circle muttering a _spell_.

He scream loudly as he feels pain runs through his entire body. Words are being written on his skin indicating that the spell they're using is a _suppressing_ one. "No!" he screams again as he feels his powers are draining out. And he isn’t that powerful to stop 5 Elders at once. He spreads his wings and goes for one of them but he is thrown away and his back makes contact with a hard rock making him groan in pain.

Two of the Elders pin him down as another approaches him and they push him on the ground, the side of his face is starting to bleed from the hard ground beneath him but he doesn’t care about his injuries. Right now, he needs to get away from The Elders.

He feels a sharp pain and he screams on top of his lungs. _His wings are being cutoff_. When The Elders are done, they leave him there screaming and squirming in pain.

"You'll face a slow death just like you've done to your victims" one of The Elders say as they all start walking away.

He is left there bleeding, and after a while, he doesn't find his voice anymore as he whispers nonsense, staring at the distance. He feels his whole body going numb and he thinks that's it. He's about to die, and he didn't even get the chance to 'live his life' properly. He's dying young and all he can think of is how pathetic he looks right now. _Is that how his victims felt like?_

∞∞∞∞∞∞

"Is he dead?"

"No, he's still barely alive. He'd suffered a great damage"

"We can take him as a slave. Bet he could be sold for a lot"

"Hmmm, okay. Carry him along. And call Niall"

∞∞∞∞∞∞

He wakes up on a bed in some sort of a cell. _He thought he's dying?_ He glances around the cell and sits up carefully, but he frowns when he feels _no pain_. He quickly traces his back and he gasps. His wings are no longer there. And he knows it's been cut, but their place is _completely gone_. He stays paralyzed for a moment thinking of what'd become of him. He lost his powers along with his wings. _He is like any other human right now_.

He takes a deep breath to calm himself down. It's going to be okay. He's going to find a way to grow his wings back, _if that's even possible_. And he will also find a way to break the spell suppressing his powers.

He hears the door of the cell opens and a man dressed in black comes in first followed by two others. One is tall and muscled, with short brown hair and brown eyes, he has wings that were similar to his own, the ones that looks like a bat's wings, black and a bit leathery textured, but his are _bigger_ , he tells himself that his small frame is _only_ due to him being young. The other is smaller, and he wonders if he's a human, he doesn't have anything that appears to be odd, but many creatures are capable of changing their looks so maybe he's one of them. He has blond hair with dark brown roots and blue eyes.

The bigger once keeps looking at him up and down, and he isn’t terrified of him or anything. He keeps a hard stare to let that guy know that he isn't easy.

"I want him" the guy speaks up with a smirk and the young creatures arches an eyebrow.

"I'm not an item to be bought" he spits between gritted teeth.

The man's smirk widen and he gets closer hovering over him, "Don't worry. I take good care of my servants"

He scoffs at him, servant? He is never going to serve anyone. "You can dream all you want asshole, but all you're getting from me is a kick to your ass" he smirks and crosses his arms over his chest keeping his ground.

The other male seems amused by the younger's behavior and he steps closer. "Do you know who I am?"

"I don't give a shit"

The guy swiftly grabs both of his arms pinning them on top of his head on the wall as his other hand holds his hips tightly. "Liam Payne, you're going to remember this name, love" he whispers in his ear in a deep voice. But all the other wants to do is rip his face off his body. _Liam Payne_ , he will be remembering the name, he is on top of the list of the people he's going to _murder_ after getting his powers back. Which has to be soon, considering his state.

Liam leans back with that smirk still on his face as he motions for the other one he came with to follow him and they leave the cell. The man in black leads him out of the cell and offers him new clothes. It appears that Liam has already paid for him and he's going to be a servant.

But he isn't planning on doing that. He smirks at the thought. He is going to make him regret choosing him to work for him.

He gets out and is led by that blondie he'd seen earlier. They get in a carriage and they keep going till they reach a castle.

"So … um, what's your name?"

He looks back at the blonde guy and he debates on whether telling him his real name or not. It's not like he got anything to lose, they already know his face, and there isn't a record of his history, so he does tell him his real name. "Zayn" he keeps his family name to himself though.

"Okay, so Zayn. I'll be leading you to your room until Liam decides which position you’d be working on"

Zayn nods and lets the blonde lead him to a small room. He would admit though, the castle looks _fine_. All _dark_ just the way he likes. His room is having a window that shows the moonlight _perfectly_. But he knows it's going to be a _drag_ in the morning. He hopes those curtains are capable of blocking the sunlight out.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

A knock on the door wakes him up and he glares at the door. _Who the hell wakes someone at noon? Don't they sleep during the day?_ And don't get him wrong. He is not a weird creatures that gets burned by the sunlight, but it's just that he used to be awake during the night because it's best for his needs. Whether it's to kill or steal. He couldn't go in the daylight because people were be able to see him clearly and he didn't want that.

The door opens and enters the blonde from last night. "I didn't even tell you to come in" he raises his eyebrows but the blonde ignores his question.

"Liam is asking for you" he simply says with a blank expression and waits for Zayn to stand and follow him. Zayn doesn't even bother on fixing his appearance, let Liam burn in hell, he isn't going to make himself presentable for an asshole like him.

They reach Liam's room, and Zayn is left alone to enter. Once he's in he notices how big Liam's room is. He also noticed on the way, that the castle doesn't look that 'dark' in the daylight. He keeps standing while crossing his arms and giving Liam a bored look.

Liam stands up from his seat and makes his way towards Zayn. He's still wearing his famous smirk on his face. "So … Zayn … Such a beautiful name for a beautiful face"

Zayn just blinks at him not changing his position. Liam's hands comes up to touch Zayn's face but Zayn swaps them away. Liam chuckles, "You should really put down that attitude. You work for me now, and I'd rather not hurt you. I really like you"

Zayn keeps blinking at him, not changing his facial expressions either, "I'm not working for anybody"

Liam smirks, "You are, whether you like it or not" he grabs Zayn's arms harshly and pushes him on the bed. Zayn is startled for a moment until Liam is back on top of him pinning his arms behind him. He seems to grab something to tie Zayn's hands with to the headboard as he rips his clothes off.

Zayn's eyes widen and he tries to push Liam away but it doesn’t work. Liam is much stronger than him and he curses The Elders for making him this weak. He feels something sticky goes inside his hole and he gasps. He'd never bottomed so the feeling is strange. But most importantly, it _hurts_.

Liam isn't going gently with him and he didn’t expect him to. And he thinks about everyone he'd done this to before. He'd also been the rough type not caring about whoever he's pounding into. At least Liam is using his fingers first.

But it's soon gone and is replaced by something much bigger and Zayn screams in pain. Liam keeps thrusting into him senselessly until he's coming deep inside of him then pulling out. Zayn is staring at the pillows beneath him with teary eyes. He didn't even realize he started crying.

Liam unties him and leaves him at the bed, "You feel so good. We're definitely doing this again. Feel free to stay here if you want, you can borrow my clothes too, I don't mind" he goes to wash himself and Zayn is just blinking at the distance, he is slowly processing what his life has turned into. _He_ used to be the one bringing the pain to people, not the other way round. And he _hates_ it.

Liam returns and glances at Zayn one last time before he heads out, "Oh, and if anyone bothers you or even tried to lay a hand on you, just tell me and I'll take care of it" and with that he's gone.

Zayn stays on the bed, not really able to move. Liam was so rough that his ass is hurting _so badly_ and he is not sure he's capable of walking. But he feels so disgusted at himself so he pushes himself up leading himself to the bathroom. He looks down at his body then up at the mirror and he notices some marks on his body. He probably didn't even feel them due to the intense pain he was feeling inside his ass. He sighs deeply and grabs some of Liam's clothes to wear. And he doesn't like them but he doesn't want to stay naked.

He flops down on the bed, and he realizes his body is shaking due to his sobs as he clutches the sheets tightly. _He is going to be a sex slave_. No, he _needs_ to get away from this place as fast as possible. He is not staying here to watch himself being _humiliated_. He pushes himself off the bed again and heads for the window. He can see many guards around, _it's not going to be easy._


	3. <<2>>

_Zayn doesn't waste time in trying to get away._

Liam was off taking care of something so Zayn got back to his own room. He didn't know his way around this place and he didn't care. All that he keeps thinking about is climbing off the window at night, reach the gates and _run away_.

He kept studying the guards' movements, memorizing their positions. And when midnight arrived he made his move.

He started slowly getting out through the window, he glanced down for a while, and he can reach the ground if he- Oh. He doesn't have wings. He has to remind himself over and over again, _no wings no magic_ , just a body that isn't capable of many things.

He takes a deep breath before trying to reach the tree branch next to him. He jumps, making some noises and he holds his breath and shuts his eyes tightly, afraid that someone managed to hear him. Luckily, he attracted no attention and he opens his eyes once more and tries slowly descending off the tree. His feet fails him and he falls on the ground, the tree branches scratching over his body as he falls to the ground.

"Shit!" he hisses, and he can see blood emerging out of his freshly made scars. But that doesn't stop him, he keeps moving successfully avoiding the guards. He manages to swiftly run across the gate, climbing it and reaches the other side.

He releases a sigh of relief and he's about to run when he feels hot breath on his neck, and a _growl_. He turns around slowly to be met with a _Cerberus_. He takes a deep breath, making a careful move back. And it's _hard_. Moving around without his magic supporting him or his wings to make an escape. And he doesn't know how to act with this monster in front of him. There is no way he can out run it nor can he fight it. _He is stuck_.

He gulps watching the creature showing his teeth, and it would be easier to avoid where his head is reaching if it didn't have _three_ heads. It'd be easier to fight it if it didn't possess a huge body towering over him, or sharp claws that's reaching his body. And all he can remember is him screaming in pain as the creature makes a move towards him. He doesn't remember which head bit into his skin or if it all three of them as he falls to the ground, and into the darkness.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

Zayn opens his eyes slowly to find himself back at his room. No, he convinced himself that this place isn’t his home, nor this is his room. _Was he dreaming? Did he fall asleep planning his escape?_ He feels a hand stroking his hair and he turns his gaze to land on _Liam_.

Liam smiles at him, "Feeling better?"

Zayn blinks at him and tries to move his hands but he can't. _He frowns_. He tries to turn his head but is met by an intense pain in his neck.

"You're lucky I found you" Liam speaks up and it gets Zayn's attention. He failed to get away and Liam _knows_ he tried to. So he doesn't say a word.

Liam sighs and stands up, "I'll get Niall to check on you once he feels better" And honestly, of all the days Liam needed Niall, he's _sick!_ He's lucky Zayn is still _alive_. And he's trying to get to Zayn, he _really_ likes him, but Zayn won't let him. And Niall wouldn’t talk to him about that matter either, so he's stuck. He doesn't know what he should do. Maybe he can get an advice from his _other friends_. They had been away in a vacation somewhere and they were supposed to be getting back soon.

"If you needed anything, I've assigned a servant just outside your door so you can ask for whatever" he pauses looking at Zayn's figure who seems to be ignoring him. "If you also needed me you can just tell him to get to me and I'll be there in a matter of seconds" he tries again but gets no response. "Do you um … need anything before I go?"

"No" Zayn replies flatly and Liam just nods then leaves the room.

Zayn rolls his eyes and he closes his eyes once more. Sleep sounds great right now. It'd get his mind off the pain in his body.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

Zayn groans as he feels someone shaking him awake. He wants to grab whoever that was and punch him in the face.

It's been three good days with Liam off his ass. _Literally_. But Liam didn't care about his desires as long as Zayn is still in pain. Niall strictly told him to leave the poor lad to heal properly, which may take at least a month before he's able to walk normally, so Liam did.

Zayn opens his eyes to find that blonde from before, he looks up at him with a glare. "The hell do you want, Blondie?"

The blonde leans back sitting next to him on the bed and sighs looking at Zayn's bruises. "It's Niall"

"What?"

"My name is Niall"

"Oh" but that didn't answer his question, "Still, why the hell are you waking me up?" Because Zayn doesn't have anything to do. He is _immobile_ , and he gets the best service, really. Everything he asks for he can get and he feels treated like a royalty. But he knows it's going to be temporary, but he can't plan another escape before he's completely healed. He also need to figure a way to take down that Cerberus.

Niall looks down at him with a frown, "It's not your fault"

Zayn gives him a confused look, "What?"

But Niall doesn't reply, he extends his hands over Zayn's body and mutter some words from which Zayn can tell it's a _spell_. But he doesn't recognize it. His eyes widen as he looks down at himself, his scars are slowly fading and his pain is _growing away_. "What on earth …" And he is amazed. _Very amazed_. He had never seen a healing spell that works that fast! He looks up at Niall who doesn't seem to be 'ill' as Liam said, nor that he seems to be facing much trouble doing the spell. And he wonders, what the hell is he?

Niall finishes and Zayn sits up on the bed relieved that he can move freely again, "Wow!" he flexes his muscles then looks at Niall, "Thanks!" he actually gives him a genuine smile and Niall returns it.

"You're welcome" Niall replies as he watches Zayn starts to take off the bandages, "No, no, stop!" Zayn gives him a confused look and Niall sighs, his smile dropping. "You need to pretend that you're still in pain"

Zayn stares at him for a while not getting what Niall is referring to, "If Liam knew that I've gotten better and healed you he'd get back to …" Niall trails off looking down with a frown, and Zayn knows what he's referring to now.

"Oh" he says and they share a silence before Zayn breaks it, "So, why did you do it? Help me?"

Niall looks up at him, "I hate to see other people hurting. And you didn't even choose to be here, so … I just … kind of … know how you feel"

Zayn frowns, "You were bought too?"

Niall smiles and shakes his head getting off the bed, "I'll be going now, just remember what I told you and you should be fine. I already informed Liam that you won't be able to even walk for another month so he won't be bothering you either" He opens the door and turns to Zayn one last time, "Also, I didn’t come here" He shuts the door behind him and Zayn chuckles after him.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

_And Niall was right._

Liam indeed didn't bother him at all. Other than the usual checkups he does, he didn't try any move on him. Niall provided him some blood stained bandages to use after he showers to keep the act. He even brought fitting clothes for him to wear, and Zayn started to really like Niall, although he still doesn't know exactly who he is or why he's here, but he doesn't care either. Niall is a nice fellow, and he would probably kept a connection between them if he wasn't planning on his escape.

_Which is very soon._

He found out another entrance to this place, but he has to actually walk inside the castle to reach it. And that means he'd have to face some guards. He kept a few knifes from whenever the servants would bring him food and they never questioned him when they found them lost, which Zayn hopes they're not reporting to Liam on that matter.

He doesn't move at night this time. He just moves around the castle casually until he reaches the outside into the gardens surrounding it. He wouldn't really call it a garden. Most of what's there is just trees, trees, and _more trees_. No flowers or anything else. Even the grass is way too tall to sit on. And he figures, it's _not_ a garden to walk in.

There's a time of the day where guards switch positions, and he noticed a guard leaving his place to go for a nap. Probably tired. He hides a knife in his sleeve approaching the guard's back slowly …

"What do you think you're doing?" He hears a voice behind him and he gulps. But he is not going to give up just yet. He turns quickly aiming the knife at the guard's torso but the guard grabs his arms before he does so. Zayn curses under his breath. _Is he ever going to get away from this place?_

"Pathetic" The guard smirks at him throwing him on the ground harshly. He gets on top of him strangling Zayn. "You should've stayed where you are, _kitty_ " And Zayn's blood is boiling, no one ever dared to call him such thing and was able to get away. He'd always _kill_ them, and _he_ would be the one whispering those words to them. It's funny how fate can change so fast, throwing a proper fit in Zayn's direction, laughing at how he is right now.

Zayn closes his eyes when he feels a sharp pain in his stomach, _the guy has hit him_. He is trying so hard to get the man's arms off him, pushing him away, but his body is too weak compared to the one on top of him, and he almost _cries_.

Suddenly he feels the man's fist loosening around his neck and he is able to breathe again, he opens his eyes to see the man unconscious on top of him. He blinks a few times while gaining his normal breathing rate.

"You probably shouldn't stay like this for too long if you're planning to get out of here"

Zayn looks up and he finds _Niall_. Wait. Niall is _helping_ him? He pushes the man's body off him and gets up to his feet. Niall motions to follow him and Zayn does. They reach outside the gates easily and he finds a horse. _Did Niall prepare this for him?_

"If you moved in this direction" Niall points out in front of them, "You should be able to reach a town"

Zayn gulps, a town? Full of humans? And The Elders? They would recognize him in no time, and would kill him the moment following. But he nods at Niall anyway, he is not going in that direction but he will be able to get away from here. He doesn't know what on earth has sparkled inside of him but he turns around to hug Niall. He really likes Niall. "I've never felt like this before, but I'm going to miss you" He pulls out smiling and Niall chuckles at him.

"Don't worry about me, I can handle my ways through here"

Zayn nods getting on the horse, "I really hope to see you again, Ni!" he shouts at him as he takes off and Niall waves at him. Part of him wants to see Zayn again, he seems like a good person who's gotten in the wrong situation at the wrong time. But at the same time, he's with Liam most of the times, so no, he doesn't want them to meet each other again.


	4. <<3>>

Zayn doesn't take the route to the town like Niall told him to. Instead he heads for his own previous home. It might have been a bit far but at least he's riding a horse, that should get him there faster. But what Zayn didn't expect is for him to get _lost_.

He huffs in annoyance. _How can he get lost?_ He knew this place too well, he lived at the other side of the town, up in a mountain, but he occasionally came here, dragging victims to make false assumptions that the creatures living on _this_ side did it, not him.

_Oh._

He came here _flying_. He is not very familiar with the _land_ down here. He groans loudly. This was _not_ happening to him. He finds a forest in front of him and he sorts of remembers that after the forest, he'd be circling around it to reach the other side, so he just needs to keep going at a straight direction and he'd be out in no time. He grins to himself as his horse starts running forward.

It's not what he expected either to find the roads inside the forest so twisted. He was meant to go in a straight direction but all the huge rocks blocking his way were not helping him. Neither having to run from the normal wild animals around here. And after walking in the forest for nearly two hours, he realizes that he's _lost_. Again.

The horse seems to be tired so he stopped underneath a tree, sitting in its shadow. He should've thought of bringing at least a bottle of water with him. _He hears the sound before he can see it_ and he quickly gets to his horse to _run away_. He knows this type of voice, it's another abnormal creature that he can't fight in this state. And he'd be less terrified if he hadn't faced this type of creatures before, so he knows how strong they are, with their disgusting green skin and huge bodies that have no minds in them.

He hears that voice again and it's much _nearer_. He glances behind him to find three _Orcs_ running after him. Suddenly the horse comes to a stop making Zayn fall to the ground. He hisses in pain as he hears the Orcs approaching him. He looks forward to see they're at a cliff. Wait. _A cliff in the forest?_ Why hadn't he seen it before? Oh. Maybe because he didn’t even go _inside_ it, not even once before this.

But he has to make a fast decision, he was not going to be eaten by three nasty Orcs. No, thank you. And he doesn't have an option to try break through them as he sees the horse try to go past them but one of the Orcs grabs it biting its neck harshly. Zayn gulps. The cruel way that the Orcs eat their prey is _disgusting_ , making him feels sick in his stomach. He stands up and prays for a miracle to happen as he runs forward _jumping off the cliff_. He can see a lake down there and he just hopes he's diving in the correct angle and he won't be hitting a rock that would lead to his _death_.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

"So he basically lost his fuck toy? That's why he's so moody?"

Niall frowns, "I guess" but he doesn't want to talk about that so he changes the topic, "So, where have you been this time, Lou?"

"France!" Louis exclaims loudly, a clear happiness in his voice, "You should really get your ass over there, Nialler! It's so _beautiful!_ "

Niall gives him a small smile, "Yeah" he says quietly, "So where's Harry?"

Louis sits properly, "I guess he went to check on Liam first, dunno, doing something to maybe give him a heart attack or something" he finishes chuckling. He spots a frowning Harry emerging into the room and grins wider than before, "Speaking of the devil!"

Harry rolls his eyes at Louis and goes to hug Niall, messing his hair a bit making Niall glare at him playfully. "Missed you too!"

Niall just sighs and smiles at Harry. They have been great friends for many many years. "You talked to Liam?"

Harry sits next to Louis giving Niall a knowing look, "So he lost his fuck buddy-"

"He is _not_ a fuck buddy!" They hear Liam defends from the hallway as he comes closer taking a seat next to Niall. "Also, good to see you, Louis" he gives him a small smile.

Louis returns the smile glancing between Harry and Niall fast before clearing his throat and standing up, "Well, we've been very tired. We just thought to pay you a visit before we get home" he shoots Harry a knowing look and Harry stands up as well.

"Yeah" he says slowly, "We should be getting … some rest" he goes for his best smile, and if Liam didn't have so many in his mind he would've probably noticed the awkwardness.

Louis grabs Niall's arms, "Niall would show us out! Bye, Liam!" he shouts over his shoulders as the three of them wave awkwardly and hurries away.

Once they're out Louis turns to Niall giving him a sympathetic look, "They're all flings, you know they never last. He'd come to his senses soon, I promise"

Niall sighs and nods. "How about you come over tomorrow?" Louis asks, "We'd have sorted out the pictures and stuff and you can just chill for a day, yeah?" he gives him a hopeful look and Niall smiles at him.

"Sure"

"Great!" Harry pats his shoulders, "I'll be cooking your favorite!"

∞∞∞∞∞∞

Zayn manages not to drown, and he swims to the dry land with heavy pants. He stays there laying on the ground occasionally coughing, blinking his blurry vision. He stares at the sky, and he just misses how he used to fly so high, going from place to another, not giving a care in the world, and if felt so good and so right. But it's _gone_.

He hears footsteps approaching and he sits up, pushing his damp hair out of his face. He sees three men, and they look human, but Zayn can't really tell anymore which is which. He gets up and walks slowly backwards so he disappear in the forest without them reaching him. For all he knows, when you're weak and out in this world alone, bad things happen to you. He snorts, he used to pick on those types of people and helps them end their _misery_. Oh how fate has changed.

He doesn't know how much far he'd walked but he feels his body so tires and he leans to a tree resting there and catching his breath, he's got some scratches from the fall but it's not major and he can still function normally, he just needs some rest. But apparently fate is not on his side, has not been since he'd fallen in that circle, as he sees a lion approaching him slowly. A lion is _still_ dangerous though, so he slowly retreats but the lion is still walking forward. He swallows and takes a deep breath as he starts to run, the lion following.

And he should know it's stupid to run from a four-legged creature that is faster than him, and his luck is playing all the right tricks on him as he stumbles and falls to the ground. He hears a sound of a _shot_ and a small _whine_. Zayn sits up looking around and he sees the three men he saw earlier, one is aiming a gun at the lion who is on the ground by now, wow, they _saved_ him.

One of the men approach him and looks him up and down smirking. Zayn knows this type of looks, isn't nowhere near good. "We just saved you boy!"

"The least you can do is pay us" Another one kneels in front of him smirking as well. And Zayn doesn't own a single valuable thing. And he knows where this is going, and he doesn't like it, he should try to get away.

Zayn slowly stands up and quickly turns on his heals to start running but is pinned to the ground by the third guy. _Did he mention how he hates his weak body?_

"Not so fast boy!" one of them whispers in his ears as he folds his arms behind his back tying them with something that feels like a belt, Zayn can't tell, because the side of his face is pushed to the ground harshly.

"So …" The man speaks up trailing his hands over Zayn's spine till he reaches his ass squeezing it, "About our payment" he pushes Zayn's pants down and Zayn curses under his breath, why does _that_ happen to him that _often_?

Someone pulls at his hair hard making him wince and close his eyes, and he doesn't even get the time to properly open his eyes before he feels a sudden pain in his ass, _and god it hurts_. He yelps and he feels something being pushed into his mouth. He chokes opening his eyes and realizing what's inside his mouth so he bites on it making the man curse at him loudly retreating.

Zayn coughs and the pain in his ass isn’t going away, the man keeps thrusting hardly into him until he's satisfied. He pulls away panting, "Damn! Your pretty little ass feels like heaven!" leaving Zayn on the ground with tears threatening to get out. And of course none of his prayers would be answered, why would they anyway? He had been the worst of the worst, doing all types of horrible things to people. And he knows that this is his punishment. This is the true _hell on earth_.

"My turn!" Is all that he gets as a warning before he feels that intense pain again in his ass.

"No! Please … just … stop!" and Zayn can't believe what's coming off his mouth. He is _pleading_. And he is pulled into the man's lap so another can get in front of him, he sees him smirking as he gets between his legs. Zayn's eyes widen. "God, please, don't!" he tries again but of course it doesn't get answered. How many times had he listened to his victims pleading?, _enjoying_ every scream they made, breaking his promise with them each time he'd trick them to give him something in order for him to stop, which he _doesn't_. So it's not a surprise for him when the man in front of him shoves his dick along with the other man inside of him, also grabbing Zayn's cock pumping it harshly.

When they're done with him they rearrange their own clothes, leaving a _bruised_ Zayn on the ground. Zayn slowly blinks at them, he'd been screaming for how long they've been going at him until his voice is no longer audible. But his brain is still working as his eyes turns darker. He looks at each one of them to memorize their looks. Liam can wait for a while, compared to them, they're _much_ worse. And they have earned their place on top of his _death list_. Getting his powers back or not, he'll make sure they _pay_.

"Let's take him with us, I'm sure he'd be a nice toy to play with" One of the men said. Another looks at Zayn and he _shivers_. Zayn is giving him a _murderous glare_ and the man doesn't know why he's suddenly so scared of that boy he just _wrecked_ few moments ago but he _is_.

"N-No ... Let's just l-leave him be" Zayn smirks as the man stutters making another shiver run through the man's body and he gulps quickly motioning for the other two to follow him.

Once they're out of sight, Zayn tries to move his body, it hurts _so_ badly to move but he _has_ to. He can't stay in a dangerous place like this, so he slowly stands up pulling his pants along to cover his body. He glances around and he limps towards the lake, at least he can clean himself there. He doesn't get to reach the lake though as he stumbles again falling to the ground, hitting his head in the process. _He blacks out_.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

"I'll go to Ed to get the photos out"

Harry nods at Louis and they part ways. He makes his way through the forest and to their house. They choose this place away from the town because they always go around the world visiting different cities, so having a place like this is calming. Harry puts a barrier around it to prevent whoever or _whatever_ tries to get in, so all is good.

He stops in his tracks as he notices a body near the lake, he gets closer to see it's a guy and he's _bleeding_. And not just from his head, but he can also notice the blood stain in his pants and Harry shakes his head at the poor stranger, he has been _raped_.

He slowly takes the stranger in his arms careful not to hurt him any further. And he notices the sharp features of his face even if they're covered by dust and are bruised, Harry can still tell he is _beautiful_. His sleepy figure, or unconscious one, looks _soft_ , and he sighs, of course someone like him would get raped. He carries him inside the house and places him on his bed. He'd clean the sheets later, right now he need to focus on healing him.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

Zayn feels soft pillows under his head and a cover over his body, with bed sheets under his hands. _What?_ He slowly blinks his eyes open to see a room he'd never seen before. He frowns sitting up slowly, and he doesn't feel pain, again, _what?_

"Glad to see you're awake" He hears a deep voice next to him and he turns to see someone sitting on the bed next to him smiling softly at him. _What?_

And Harry would admit, he was about to leave after healing Zayn to go make some food or have a shower but he kept staring at his small figure curled up behind the covers, playing with the short strands of hair. And he is also not sure if the guy in front of him is human or an angel that fell from the sky, because now that he's awake, and after Harry cleaning his face, after the bruises are gone, he is much more beautiful with his big eyes looking up at Harry in confusion with a slight pout and a defensive position. And Harry had never seen someone that looks _that_ beautiful before, really, he is not exaggerating.

But he makes himself get up anyway, "You should take a shower, I'll grab you some clothes from Louis, they should fit you. I'll be making something for you to eat while you clean up, yeah?"

Zayn doesn't know who is that guy is or why he is doing that. Does he also want something from him? The stranger disappears for a while and then returns with a stack of clothes, "Here" he hands them the clothes and motions for the bathroom with a smile then he's gone again. Zayn keeps blinking after him, well at least he can get what he can have for now. That man doesn't seem dangerous.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

Louis gets back to the house closing the door behind him humming as he smells the scent of food, Harry's been always a good cook. He sits his bag on the floor and sits at the table. "So what are we having-" he cuts himself as he notices someone wearing _his_ clothes coming off Harry's room. The stranger looks up at Louis but he doesn't react, not changing his calm expression, just staring, "Who is that?" Louis turns to Harry with a raised eyebrow.

Harry glances at Zayn then back at Louis, "Um … someone I just found near the lake. He was in a bad condition so I took him in"

Louis blinks at him, "I swear your kindness is going to lead us to our graves someday" he mumbles. He returns to look at the stranger and smiles at him making him look at Louis in confusion, "Come on then! You must be hungry"

Zayn walks carefully towards them and sits across from Louis, and yes, he is very hungry so he'd happily accept the food.

"So, I'm Louis, and this is Harry" Louis points at Harry who smiles at Zayn, at which to Zayn only nods.

Louis shares a look with Harry but he tries again, "So, um … What's your name?"

Zayn looks up at him, "Zayn" he says simply and returns to his food.

"Okay, where do you live?" Louis asks hoping they'd get him home safely.

Zayn stops eating and frowns at his plate but didn’t say anything. And again, Louis looks at Harry for help who mouths 'drop it for now' at him and shrugs. Louis nods at him and they continue to eat in silence.

When they're finished, Louis helps Harry clean up and Zayn wanders around Harry's room after getting out of the bathroom. He notices that there is a bookshelf with different books stacked neatly. But what catches his attention are the big folders with different names written on them and they sound handmade, Zayn doesn't identify the words written on them and his curiosity gets the best of him as he grabs one that 'Italy' is written on it and opens it.

His eyes widen as he stares at all the pictures inside, with different notes written on them, but the language is weird and he can't understand what's written, but he doesn't care that much as he keeps flipping the pages seeing all the different places that those photos are taken at. And he wonders where are they? And if he can possibly go there one day.

Because if Zayn has to admit, he is an actual _cave man_. He did live in a cave, and he only wandered around the town and what's around it. But he never made it far. Because no matter what he thought of the outside world, he was _scared_. What if he'd seen more horrified groups like The Elders? Or if there were creatures there that are far stronger than he is. And Zayn knows he doesn't have the required experience to go outside yet.

"You been there before?" A voice asks behind him and Zayn would normally flinch if he wasn't so into the photos in his hands so he quietly answers, "No"

"Would you want to go there?" Harry watches as Zayn's eyes lit up but it quickly fades and his face turns into a frown, and Harry didn't mean that to happen and he wonders if he did something wrong.

Zayn keeps flipping through the pages completely ignoring Harry, mesmerized by each page. Harry smiles at him and decides to leave him alone as he gets back to Louis.

"He can't stay here, Harry" Louis whispers as he glances at Zayn, giving Harry a stern look.

"It's night Louis, we can't just kick him out! And we don't even know where he lives. Maybe he ran away or something?"

"Harry, I'm not going to take care of a kid"

"He is not a _kid_ " Harry frowns.

Louis sighs, "What I'm saying is that he can't stay here forever"

"Just till we know his story. Come on, Lou, please. We can't just throw him out"

Louis crosses his arms over his chest, and he can't say no to Harry when he is pouting and looking at Louis with big shiny eyes so he gives in, "Fine" making Harry smile widely showing his dimples, and Louis smiles as well, "But we don't have a spare room, so he'll have to sleep on the couch" then he bites his lip, "Or … we can a share a room and he can take the other"

Harry nods at him, "I'll see what he is most comfortable with"

He gets back to his room chuckling as he sees Zayn opening another one of his folders. "You're tired yet?" Zayn doesn't look up at him and keeps looking through the pages, "Well, you can sleep here. Me and Louis would be in the other room if you needed anything, yeah?" Zayn simply nods so Harry gets up leaving the room.

Zayn doesn't sleep until he's through 4 different folders so far, but he guesses he can carry on tomorrow so he closes the folder putting it back in place. Turning off the lights and flops on the bed.


	5. <<4>>

"Niall called saying he won't be coming today. I'm a bit worried so I'll go over to him" Harry nodded at him, "Also, try to get Zayn to open up" Louis glances at Harry's room, "And … just be careful, I don't know why but I'm having a bad feeling about this whole situation"

Harry raises his eyebrows at Louis' comment, "Okay" he says slowly.

"I'm serious" Louis says sternly. Harry raises his hands in surrender chuckling making Louis roll his eyes then he got out.

Harry entered his room slowly trying not to disturb Zayn. He went to his closet and picked up some clothes, then tried to open his drawers quietly picking up his rings. He noticed Zayn shifting on the bed to his side and fluttering his eyes open.

"Oh, shit! Did I wake you up? I'm sorry!" he whispers.

Zayn just blinks at him and sits on the bed properly, he looks at the open drawer and _something_ catches his eyes. It was a _pendant_. And he saw this one before, it belonged to his _father_. "Where did you get that from?" he frowns.

Harry follows Zayn's gaze and picks up the pendant, "I bought it from a souvenir shop while I was at Morocco" He notices Zayn's fingers fidgeting with the sheets so he smiles handing it to him, "You can have it if you want"

Zayn looks at him in surprise and confusion at the same time but he shrugs. "I'm going to the town to buy some stuff, wanna come?"

Zayn tenses. The town was not a good choice for him, "No, I'll stay"

Harry shakes his head, "You need some fresh air, now get up" he pulls the covers off Zayn completely. "You'll find breakfast at the kitchen. I'm going to take a shower" he flashes a smile at Zayn then heads to the bathroom. "You can borrow some of Louis' clothes, it's in the other room" he shouts from inside the bathroom.

What part does Harry not understand about him _not_ wanting to go out? He sighs looking down at the pendant, he lost everything that ever belonged to his family and he doesn't know how it ended in some _souvenir shop_ in some place he doesn't even know. He glances at the bathroom door. Maybe Harry knows some information that can be useful to him. But he can't just walk around the town, The Elders would notice him immediately. But another thought hit his mind. Maybe he can find those three men and finally send them to their graves, oh no, death seems too easy for them, yeah, they need to _suffer_.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

Zayn was frowning the entire time. He was shit scared out of his life, he knew this was a bad idea. If anything happened to him, Harry would be next on his death list. But he was also looking around with big eyes, he never walked into the town at the day, and it was different. Other than the usual glances from people, no one knew who he was or _what_ he is. Some even _smiled_ at him.

They enter a shop and Zayn stares at a painting hanging on the wall. It looks so _familiar_ but something was _off_ about it. "I heard she is very strong" Harry whispers from behind him, making Zayn scoff. The painting represented _himself_ , the same clothes he used to wear, the same wings, his hair, but his face isn't there, it's completely black so you can't tell any specific feature. And he knows why, no one had ever seen his face and lived, back then.

But he fact that they think he is a girl? _What the hell?!_ "They don't see her anymore though" Harry leans back frowning at the painting, "I wonder how she looks like" Zayn takes a deep breath to stop him from exploding. He walks away instead. Harry just follows him.

"Have you ever seen her?" Harry pushes, because Zayn seemed to be interested in their kind but at the same time wanting to kill them somehow, and he just wants to know _why_.

"It's not a _her_ " he mumbles making Harry stop in his tracks and grab Zayn's arm to make him face him.

"And how do you know that?" Harry cocks an eyebrow.

"I just do" he pulls his arm from Harry's grip and continue to walk away.

Harry sighs and drops the subject. Zayn kept walking away till he's out of the shop and Harry lets him be for now, he'd buy the stuff he came for then he'd take him home. He seems stressed enough.

Zayn leans on the wall outside the shop watching people move around him, and he just stays there, watching them until Harry finishes whatever he's doing and they can leave.

"I thought you were dead" Zayn snaps his head towards the voice and he freezes. It's the man he almost killed at that alley long ago but The Elders were able to stop him. And it isn't good, he knows the man is more built than he is, so he takes a step back. The man smirks and moves closer, grabbing his arm and suddenly he's the one pulled into an alley.

"Not so fast, doll" He whispers into his ears, "I'll make you pay" he says through gritted teeth, and Zayn is just helpless against his grip.

"If I were you I'd let him go" Zayn looks up to see Harry standing there with his arms crossed and a cold face, but he can hear the amusement in his tone.

The man snorts at Harry dropping Zayn for the moment, "And If I were you I'd leave" And he matches Harry's height. But Zayn doesn't move, should he help Harry? Or just let them fight? He doubts he'd be even a helping hand, he might be a barrier after all.

Harry smirks and moves closer, "Wrong move" he grabs the man's arm twisting it behind his back easily then he hears the sound of bones being _broken_ , but Harry's fast to cover his screaming with his hands. "Make another sound and something else would snap" he traces his fingers on the man's neck then letting him go. He pulls Zayn to his feet and leads him to the streets once again.

He should say something to Harry, he did save him for a second time and he didn’t even thank him for the first time. He looks down at the pendant hanging around his neck now, "Thank you" he mumbles.

Harry turns to look at him, and he probably didn’t hear him, "What?"

Zayn sighs, "Are we done here?"

"Oh … well, yeah. We’re done for today" Harry smiles at him and they go back to the forest. Zayn kept looking around the mountains surrounding the forest from afar, and he stumbles hitting Harry's back, but Harry caught him in time. Zayn looks up at him for a second then looks down. Harry sighs, "You want to go up there?" He nods his head towards the mountains making Zayn look up at him in confusion.

Harry smiles and takes off his shirt handing it to Zayn who is still confused. And then his mouth is left agape at how huge brown feathery wings starts forming from Harry's back. He thought Harry was _human_? Zayn kept staring for a while and he takes a step closer to be able to reach and touch those wings. _Oh how he missed his own_. But Harry's wings are far different from his, their color is all shades of brown, making the light colored feathers shine in the sunlight matching Harry's skin. And it's _so soft_ to the touch.

And suddenly Zayn is carried bridal style and Harry's wings are wide spread taking them higher in the sky. Zayn is startled for a moment, he used to fly high, but not like _this_ , not when someone else is _carrying_ him. But he enjoys the wind blowing through his hair and he leans his head backwards smiling. Yeah, he missed the feeling of being in the air.

He opens his eyes to glance downwards and he knows how to estimate the distance they had flown from the size of items below them. He quickly looks at Harry, "Wait! You can’t fly any higher!"

Harry narrows his eyes at him, "Why?"

"There is a barrier" And Zayn knows. He tried breaking through it but failed. It was meant to keep the likes of _them_ down.

"How do you know all of these stuff?" but Harry stops in midair anyway.

"You're welcome" Zayn retorts making Harry roll his eyes. He knows Zayn is hiding something but he doesn't push it.

"Anyway" he starts flying higher again and Zayn gasps, "The barrier is weak" Zayn closes his eyes tightly and prepare for the shocking hit to happen.

But it doesn't come, and he open his eyes to see they're floating above the clouds. "Told you" Zayn doesn't look at Harry, he knows he's wearing a smirk on his face and he is probably going to mock him, so he doesn't look. And he wonders how much more Harry is able to do being able to easily break a barrier like that.

He spots a plane far away from them and he'd always been able to see them from down there but was never able to actually go near one due to the barrier. Harry starts flying around the clouds, getting inside them and getting out again, and it's all new to Zayn, and Zayn's is pretty sure Harry is just showing off his abilities, probably making fun of Zayn inside his mind.

Harry gets down once more through the barrier, and Zayn pouts. He wanted to fly near the plane. "We can't get them to see us" Harry explains once he sees Zayn's pout. Zayn finally looks at Harry and he is surprised to find him smiling softly at him. "If they did, they'd take pictures, and then it'd spread, and we won't be able to travel anywhere without people coming after our asses"

They land on top of a mountain and Harry drops Zayn to his feet. Zayn looks up at the sky, "So … You broke the barrier?"

"Not 'broke' but rather getting through it"

And Zayn isn't looking down as he walks and suddenly there is no ground under his feet. But Harry is fast to reach him wrapping his arms around his waist, "Woah! Careful there!"

Zayn looks down and an idea pops up in his head. He turns to look at Harry, "Can we fly down? Like this?" Zayn gestures to the way Harry's holding him. And Harry can't say no to Zayn's big eyes that are filled with excitement. He chuckles and tightens his grip on Zayn, spreading his wings once more and descending down the mountain, letting the gravity do its job, but also with a little boost of his own.

Zayn smiles widely and lets his hands fall from Harry's arms to spread them as well. He might not be the one who's actually flying but he doesn't care. Harry does flips and loops around trees and rocks and any creatures they come across, leaving Zayn _giggling_.

They end up at the top of another mountain and Harry lets Zayn down to his feet again. "That was fun" Zayn says quietly, but Harry heard him this time and he smiles widely to match Zayn's smile as well.

Zayn glances around him and his wide smile disappears. This is _his_ place. And he knows when he turns left and walks he'd find the cave he used to live inside. "It doesn't look safe" Harry says from behind him and Zayn has forgotten that Harry is still here with him. But this is his _home_ , he'd always feel safe in here. Because he knows no one could reach this place unless they're _flying_. So he ignores Harry as he walks inside.

Harry follows anyway without another word but he forms a fire ball to enlighten their way. Zayn look at it for a second. _Harry could manipulate one of the nature elements too?_ What is he _not_ capable of?

He takes the route that he memorized by heart and he reaches his room. Harry glances around, it isn't much but someone obviously _used_ to live here. He looks back at Zayn who's having a small smile on his face tracing the bed lightly.

"You … used to live here" And it isn't a question. He should've known.

Zayn tenses. He knows what's coming next. _Humiliation_. Because he's done it before. Whenever he would find someone that's gotten weaker or being beat up by The Elders, he'd make fun of them, torture them, or eventually kill them. And what's even worse, is that he'd do it again if his powers are back.

He makes himself turn to look at Harry, but he doesn't have a judgmental look on his face, no sympathy either, he is not angry or anything, his features are _soft_ and he can see that Harry's eyes are showing _hurt_.

But Zayn doesn't know how to react to _this_. When Harry's moving closer to him and cupping his face, "I'm sorry" He doesn't even know what Harry is sorry for, and he certainly wasn't expecting Harry's lips to be on his. And what's most shocking to him is that he is _kissing back_. And maybe he is searching for comfort, something to hold on to, as his arms find their way around Harry's neck. Or maybe the way Harry is kissing him so sweetly with his arms secured around his waist giving him a sign of 'safe' or it can be that no one ever kissed him like that. He doesn't know anything, but he is sure of one thing. _He likes it_.

Zayn mentally whines when Harry pulls back, but he is still close so he would take it. "Come on, we need to go back" Harry leans back and glances around the room, "You need to take something from here?" He looks back at Zayn.

"Um … no?" Because Zayn doesn’t possess anything valuable in here, and he doesn’t want to take anything from here because there isn't much to take from here anyway.

Harry nods at him picking him up in his arms again while smiling down at him, but Zayn doesn’t look up, he just leans his head on Harry's chest as Harry takes them home.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

They arrive late to find Louis already asleep.

Zayn is sitting on the bed playing with his pendant while Harry is just watching him, both with a small smile on their faces.

"We should probably go to bed" Harry says quietly, leaning in to press a soft kiss to Zayn's cheek.

Zayn's smile grow a bit but turns to a frown once Harry gets up from the bed. Harry notices and stops in his tracks, "Something wrong?"

 _No, he just missed Harry's arms around him, no big deal. He shouldn't anyway. Why was he even thinking about that?_ "No" he mumbles instead and flops down the bed.

Harry sighs and walks back to the bed sitting next to him, "You sure?" He tries again but gets no answer from Zayn. Harry stares at him for a while then whispers a 'good night' before he's gone.

Zayn bites his lip, he can't just word his thoughts.

He finds the night is colder than it was before so he gets up. He goes for Louis' room but hesitates to knock. What if he disturbed them? Or worst, what if they were in an inappropriate position? He shakes his head to get rid of these thoughts. So he gets back to Harry's room instead looking through Harry's clothes to find something that would fit him. He _doesn't_ , and he ends up picking a sweater that is too big on him. He shrugs getting back to bed. And the heavy material isn't the only warmth he gets from the sweater.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

It appears that Harry is an expert in disturbing Zayn's sleep. He guesses he is a light sleeper, as Zayn comes out of his room rubbing his sleepy eyes. And Harry takes a moment to _stare_ at his appearance. His hair is falling on his face, he is wearing Harry's sweater that is too big for him, making Zayn's hands disappear inside the sleeves, with Louis' skinnies.

Harry smiles and picks him up, sitting him on top of the kitchen island giving him a quick peck on the lips. And Harry thinks Zayn looks much softer like this, when he is sleepy in the morning, he even looks younger, more peaceful, and even smaller in Harry's clothes. Overall _adorable_.

But Zayn isn't processing that much in the early morning as his head falls over Harry's chest keeping his eyes shut, his arms are lazily over Harry's torso.

Harry's arms unwrap from Zayn's waist, one going behind his back, the other under his legs as he carries him back to his room. He sits him gently on the bed, but Zayn's arms aren't falling from around his neck, and even if Harry can easily get off his sleepy grip, he doesn't. Because he knows it's Zayn's way of asking him to _stay_. So he _does_.

"I'll just go close the door so nobody disturbs us, yeah?" he whispers as he unwraps Zayn's arms from around him slowly.

When he gets back to the bed, Zayn is already snuggled to his side. And Harry puts a small kiss to his forehead, hugging him tightly to himself. He decides he likes this side of Zayn the most. The clingy-soft-sleepy-cute side that he's seeing for the first time.


	6. <<5>>

Louis opens the door to Harry's room to find both Zayn and Harry curled into each other. Harry is awake though so he turns his head to look at Louis. Louis gives him a questioning look so Harry slowly slides off the bed earning a quiet grunt from Zayn as he shifts to the other side. He wanted to be there with him, but Louis isn't making that happen any time sooner, so he walks out of the room with him, closing the door behind him quietly.

"So?" Louis starts, "What was that about?"

Harry shrugs, "Did something happen? Did he tell you anything?" Louis questions further so Harry tells him what happened yesterday, leaving his and Zayn's moments aside.

"Do you think he still has a family or something?" Harry shrugs once more, Zayn didn't tell him that much. Louis sighs, "Harry" he says in a warning tone making Harry roll his eyes, "We can't keep him with us. He is a human!" he whisper shouts.

"Maybe, but he has no place else to go. And I believe he is not a _normal_ human"

"Makes it worse!" Louis glances at Harry's bedroom then back to him, "Harry there are not much people who know about these stuff, which tell us that he is _dangerous_!"

"He is not dangerous, Louis" Harry sighs glancing at the clock, "Niall should be here soon, so help me in the cooking" he stops when Louis doesn't follow him and raises his eyebrows, "Please?" Louis sighs and follows him to the kitchen.

"I'm still against this whole idea. I want him gone"

"He is not going anywhere soon, Louis" Harry says irritated that Louis keeps pushing Zayn away. But can't he see that Zayn needs help?

Louis narrows his eyes at Harry, "There is something you're not telling me" Harry doesn't answer, "Of course. Of _fucking_ course" Louis walks in front of Harry, "You can’t have a stupid crush over someone you _just_ met, Harry! He is a _human_ for god's sake!"

"Are you done?" Harry asks in a calm deep voice that Louis knows he's clearly mad, but he'd lived with Harry for quite a long while now that he doesn't flinch. But he still drops the subject for now. He leaves the kitchen heading to his own room.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

Zayn wakes up later on. He takes a shower and wears whatever he sees in his way, which was Harry's clothes again, then heads outside the room. He stops when he hears a _familiar_ voice. Harry smiles at him when he notices him coming into the living room, Louis frowns and turns away.

"Niall?" Niall turns to look at him and freezes. Harry and Louis noticed and they exchange a look.

"You know each other?" Louis asks.

Zayn's eyes widen a bit and Niall's do as well, "I met him once at the town" Niall says quickly sending Zayn a look to _'play along'_ and Zayn smiles and nods.

"Yeah" Louis squints his eyes at the pair, he is _totally_ not buying that, and there is obviously something hidden between them. He'll make sure to drag Niall later so he can spill it.

"I see" Louis says slowly as Zayn sits next to Niall.

They stay like that for the rest of the day, and Niall feels the tension had gone too much so he states an excuse for him to leave. Zayn takes this as his cue and offers to walk with him but Harry says it'd be dangerous if they went on their own so Louis offers to accompany them.

Niall remembers that the road they're taking isn't the one leading them _out_. "Um, Louis, this isn’t-"

"I'm not a fool, Niall" he turns to look at the duo. "How do you know each other?"

"I told you we met-"

"You're lying. Niall we've been friends for _ages_! What are you hiding?"

Niall gulps and glances at Zayn who walks casually towards Louis, "You're asking far too many questions" he says in a low tone standing in front of Louis and Louis could tell that his doubts are _true_ with the way Zayn is looking at him. He narrows his eyes at him taking a careful step back and something snaps. Zayn smiles and backs away to Niall's side who is looking terrified more than anything.

"What did you-" Louis doesn't get to finish his sentence as he feels something wraps around his ankle then he feels a _sting_. Louis falls to the ground. Niall gasps and rushes to his side.

"What did you do?!" He shouts turning to Zayn who just sighs.

"Well, obviously we wanted a way out, and he was not going to lead us out"

"He's my _friend_!" then he picks Louis up leading him to a safe spot to attend to his wounds. "Harry is going to murder you" he mumbles. The wound isn't deep but the poison already spread in his body. It takes him some time to stop it, but Louis wouldn't awake any time soon.

"I'm actually glad that you are human now or it would've been worst" That catches Zayn's attention.

"What?" Niall realizes what he said and avoids Zayn's gaze, "You know? You _knew_ about me? How?"

"I was the one who healed you before Liam purchased you"

"You were the one who …" Zayn trails, "But … my wings"

"They wouldn't grow back, leaving them would only cause pain to your body. I did what I had to do, there was no other way of keeping you alive" Zayn falls to the ground.

"You … y-you, don't know for sure-"

"I've been doing this for far too long, Zayn. I know what's possible and what's not"

"But your ability!"

"I can only heal! I closed your wounds once I took your wings off completely. I couldn't grow them back. It's impossible"

Zayn takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, "I'd prefer to be dead than be a fucking human!" he shouts.

"You're not a _human_ " They stare at each other for a while until they hear a growl behind them. The stare turns into wide eyes and they grow still. "Fuck!" Niall curses under his breath. Louis was the only one who can properly fight among them. "You are not a human, do you have any magical powers or something?"

"Got sealed" Zayn replied getting closer to Niall, "Leave him be, we can make it if we run"

"I'm not leaving my fucking _friend_ behind!" Niall whisper shouts.

"Would you rather die with him then? Be my guest!"

"You think you can survive on your own like that?" Niall asks when Zayn turns away, "You'll be dead before we do" Zayn knows it's probably a bad idea too, but them staying is also dangerous.

"The trees!" Zayn says quickly, "If we could climb they wouldn't see us!" Niall nods as they try to climb a tree, carrying Louis with them, which was _difficult_ , considering they wanted to reach a height the orcs couldn't reach, but luckily they made it at last.

They stay quiet till the orcs leave but they stay up fearing the creatures might go after them. "I'm sorry. You were trying to help" Zayn apologizes.

"Nah, you lost too much. I understand" Niall smiles back at him.

"Do you think it's possible?" he turns to look at Niall, "That I can get my powers back? That by some magical way I will get my wings back?"

"There is a way" Zayn leans forward looking more serious now so Niall continues, "A seal can be unbroken, you just need someone who's powerful enough that can do it"

"How do I get someone to …" He tilts his head to the side, "Harry"

"I don’t think he'd do it" Zayn looks at him in confusion, "You nearly killed his best friend. And … Harry doesn’t simply break a seal for anyone, and he wouldn't do it for someone he barely knows"

"But he'd do it for me" Zayn smiles, and it's Niall's turn to squint his eyes at him, "What about the wings?"

"Why would he do it for you? Harry is also my friend, if you try any sick way to-"

"I'm not trying anything with Harry, even in my full powers I couldn't have a chance in winning against him" he leans back smiling, "There are other ways" he bits his lip then turns to Niall again who’s having a weary expression on his face now.

"Amazing" Niall pauses, "Your ability to seduce men is very impressive" Zayn frowns at that, it's not something good, it got him raped without even trying, _twice_. Now that he thinks about it, if he tried hard enough, he can get Harry to unlock his seal, "You should really teach us" he mumbles looking down at Louis, "Which I really get why Louis despises you so much now"

Zayn blinks at him, "That's why you helped me out!"

"Keep your voice down!" Niall hisses.

"Don't worry, I'm not going back to that bastard" Zayn chuckles, "Which I really don't know how can you be attracted to someone liked that!"

"You don't know him" Niall retorts frowning.

"Look, I can disappear from all your lives after I get back to my normal state. Now, how can I have my wings back?"

Niall sighs, "You can't have your wings back. It's more of a … transplant operation. Having someone else's wings as your own" Zayn bites his lip thinking about it, he could have any wing he desires as his own, plus his powers. Life is taking a good turn and he _loves_ it. He thinks of a certain brown feathery wings then immediately frowns. Taking someone's wings is a _horrible_ thing, he felt it himself, and he feels a shiver running through his body as he thinks about that night. The night he _lost it all_.

"There you are!" They turn to find Harry flying above them slowly making his way down, "What on earth are you doing here?" he then glances at Louis, "Why is he asleep?" Niall opens his mouth to speak up but Zayn quickly cuts him off.

"He tripped and hit his head" Harry turns to look at him and he gets up quickly making his way to Harry who opens his arm for him wrapping it around him once he's close enough.

"Are you alright?" he brings his other hand to brush his fingers over Zayn's cheeks.

Zayn smiles faintly getting close to Harry, "Yeah. Just been … scared" he whispers and Harry immediately tightens his grip around him.

"It's alright now, angel" he whispers back placing a quick kiss to Zayn's lips and he was about to dive in for another until Niall clears his throat. He doesn't pull back though and continues his actions making Niall groan loudly. He didn't think Harry would get attached to Zayn _this_ fast! But again, Liam _also_ did. And he wonders if he has some sort of a siren spell, _but he didn’t even sing!_

"I'd like to go home by now very much, thank you!" he says loudly making Harry pull back finally, his arms are still around Zayn.

"Fine!" he pecks Zayn's lips one more time before unwrapping his arms and he picks Louis up instead. Niall scoots close to Zayn sending him a glare.

"If you ever played Harry-"

"I'm not" Zayn turns to him and they both break apart once Harry look back at them, they smile instead and follow him. Harry leads Niall outside the forest first then walks them back to their home.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

"Niall said that he'd probably wake up after many hours" Zayn starts when he notices that Harry is looking at Louis worriedly. Harry nods and leaves Louis' room. Louis knows he meant to hurt him, and he needs to get away as soon as possible. _After_ getting his seal undone.

"So …" Zayn trails as he leads Harry to his room, "Louis isn’t waking up any time soon" he smirks pulling Harry closer to himself.

Harry raises his eyebrows and smirks as well. They end up on the bed with Harry on top of Zayn, getting into a heated make-out session. And it's all lovely, Zayn wouldn't lie, he loves every second of it. From the way Harry strokes his skin, to the way he trails his mouth over it. He likes Harry, he really do, but he is having another thing to worry about. He doesn't allow Harry to go further as he pushes him away gently and sitting up, making Harry sit back as well.

"I'm not who you think I am" he whispers and they're still close, Harry's arms are still around him and he's basically straddling Harry's lap, his own arms are linked behind Harry's neck. Harry waits for what Zayn has to say and tries not to bring him closer, grinding up against him, but he settles for stealing kisses on his neck. It's distracting Zayn.

"Harry, I'm not human" Harry pulls back smiling.

"Knew you were an angel. You're far too pretty to be a human" he pecks his lips a few times before leaning back and Zayn wasn't expecting that, but he can go with it.

"Ever seen a fallen angel?" Zayn smirks.

"You're a fallen one? Thought you got here by mistake"

"I … did" Harry pulls away and stares at him.

"Don't tell me you're going back?" Harry's voice shows worry and he seems a bit down so Zayn leans in to kiss him.

"Well, I can stay. But without my magic, I can't for too long" he pulls away. Harry frowns at him. Zayn bits his lips sliding himself closer to Harry, "My powers were sealed" he whispers against Harry's neck as he starts to suck at it making Harry tilt his head giving him more space releasing a satisfied noise as Zayn continues his actions.

"I can unseal whatever it is" Harry manages to say between Zayn grinding down on him and sucking on his neck. Zayn places a kiss to his mark then pulls away slowly.

"You would do that for me?" he smiles shyly playing with Harry's hair. Harry manages to get his mind working elsewhere to focus on the task he's being asked to do. He slowly brings his hand to touch Zayn's arm and Zayn watches as the seal's ink begins to reveal itself. Harry frown once he sees it.

"That's The Elders' spell" He looks back up at Zayn, "How did they get to you?"

Zayn swallows, "I got surrounded. I don't know … I heard someone talking about taking me away to someplace. I'm not sure" he grips Harry's biceps and Harry takes a moment to think properly. _Why would The Elders target Zayn?_ _For what cause?_

"Sit back" he orders and Zayn slides off him sitting on the bed. Harry stands and walks backwards then mutter some words directing his hands towards Zayn. Zayn feels like a heavy weight being lifted from him and Harry stops. "Black magic?" he retreats his hands making the seal disappear completely. Harry can feel that the aura isn't powerful, but he knows. Angels do _not_ possess black magic.

Zayn smiles widely as he feels the magic running through his veins once more, he missed this feeling. "What are you?" Harry demands and Zayn looks up to be met by a cold face.

"I told you. I'm not a human" He gets up walking towards him and locking their lips again, more passionately this time. He's _more_ than happy, he got his powers back.

Harry kisses back re-wrapping his arms around Zayn's waist, his thoughts are _lost_ into the kiss. Zayn's powers are not something he can't handle, they are _far weak_ from his own, but the way he fell so hard for Zayn is the one thing that he _can't_ handle.

They don't get to do something more though - _Harry was dissatisfied_ \- but again, he couldn't say no to Zayn when he simply asked for a cuddle with pouty lips and big eyes.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

Zayn hated the way he feels a burning sensation inside his chest. But he _couldn't_ stay. He truly liked Harry, and he feels bad for going away, but it's for the best. Harry has his world, and he has his. And he had a list that _needs_ to be finished.


	7. <<6>>

Zayn made his way through the woods _quietly_. He still can't maneuver freely, he only got his magic back, and he still doesn't know what other creatures lies in the depths of the forest, so he kept his guard up. He can clearly remember the way Harry used to take Niall out of the woods so he follows that path. To his luck, not many creatures showed up that he couldn't take care of.

"Ugly creatures" he mumbles spotting the orcs. They took advantage of his weakness and he was happy to _pay them back_. He slowly approached them gathering his powers in his fists as he launched a deadly strike into the back of one of the orcs, his arm passing through to the other side of its body. "Disgusting" he says as he pulls his hands away. The orc falls to the ground releasing a loud groan of pain.

Zayn didn't kill it, it wasn't near a vital organ, but he made great damage, and he _intended_ it. He smirks as the other orcs turn to him, he wasn't afraid, he knew these creatures, he knew in this world that showing off your powers made other _afraid_. And that's what he did. Looking deadly into their eyes as he keeps cutting pieces of flesh of the orc laying on the ground, making it scream louder. The others are watching, then started _backing off_ slowly.

But Zayn wouldn't let them. He _never_ leaves his victims. He uses his powers again to give him a speed boost as he jumps on one taking its head off, then to the other grabbing his heart out of his chest and crushing it between his hands. "Don't worry" he whispers as he gets to the last one, "You _won't_ be remembered" he smirks as he splits his body into half.

He gets up heading to the lake to wash himself, his clothes -rather Harry and Louis'- got blood on them, but he didn't care either. It wasn't something that he isn’t used to anyway. When he is done he continues his way to his _next target_.

Strong big walls come in view and he smirks. "It's been a while" but he used too much magic that he got tired. He figures he should go for a rest, but the night had been _always_ his friend, and if he wasted more time, he might get caught before he gets a chance to finish off his _target_. A low growl catches his attention and he smiles and turns, "Hello old friend. Remember _me_?"

The Cerberus is standing at the gate gritting its teeth at him. Zayn spreads his arms, "Come at me" and it _does_. The Cerberus jumps with full speed, each head is trying to bite at him, but Zayn easily evades it using his powers once more to land a deadly blow on its back. He doesn't waste time as he cuts each one of its heads. "Now you got me dirty again" he frowns then laughs heading inside.

Guards are not a problem, he already knew their pattern, and he wasn't going to kill them. Not now. He came for a _certain someone_. He quietly climbs the stairs into the _familiar_ room. He enters it slowly careful not to make any sound then climbs on the bed. He takes his victim hands slowly attaching them to the bed using his magic to manipulate the fabric to wrap around his hands.

His victim flutters his eyes open then knits his eyebrows in confusion. He tries to move his hands but fails then turns to him, "Zayn?"

Zayn smiles leaning down, "Missed me?" then he goes to whisper in his ears, "Love?" then he leans back, "Don't worry. I take good care of my victims" Zayn can see him still confused but not scared, and that's _not_ the expression he wants to see so he slowly trail his hands down his victim chest watching as Goosebumps rise over the skin then digs his fingers into the flesh earning a gasp. A fucking _gasp_. Just … a gasp.

Zayn isn't used to this. He wants him to _scream_ , wants to see him _begging_ for mercy, wants him to _suffer_ and to feel afraid. But apparently, _Liam_ is a tough one. Liam quickly frees his hands sitting up and Zayn is also quick to stand up. His guard is back up. "What the hell?" but Liam isn't shouting, he is still _confused_ , and Zayn is about to _scream_.

But he contains himself. He uses his magic one more time to give him a speed boost and he successfully lands a hit to Liam's stomach. He bits his lip as he reverts the magic to his fingers making it dig into the flesh. Liam's eyes widen and his mouth gapes as he falls back to the bed, once Zayn retreats his hands. Liam covers the blood with one of his hands but feels something weird running through his entire body, "You fucking poisoned me?"

Zayn is slowly losing all his powers and he's about to fall down soon but he manages to smirk looking back at Liam, "That's black magic, love" then he sits on Liam's lap seeing as he's not capable anymore to even see clearly, "The art of _manipulation_ " he whispers into his ears. Liam tries to push him away but Zayn takes hold of both of his hands pushing him down on his back. "Do you know who I am?"

Liam feels his head dizzy, and his body is slowly losing all his powers, and he can't focus, Zayn, the one who used to be so weak is now taking him down. _Oh the irony_. "Zayn Malik. You're going to remember this name … _love_ " he then gets up still smirking as he makes his way backwards, "While you rot in _hell_ " he continues, "Farewell … _Liam_ " he turns to him one last time before he's out of the room, "Such an ugly name for an ugly face" he throws a flying kiss to him then leaves. Liam is going to die soon, and the pain he's going to feel for the next few hours is going to increase _minute by minute_ and it's far worse that what he did to him. But that's how Zayn works. He strikes back _harder_.

Now he goes for the next thing on his list. He opens another familiar room and walks to grab some clean clothes. The person lying down on the bed sits up suddenly feeling another person's presence inside the room with the horrible smell of blood and dirt. Zayn starts getting undressed when the person speaks up. "Zayn? What are you doing here?"

Zayn turns and smiles, "Still need you to get my wings" he finishes dressing up and Niall frowns, "Who did you …" then stands up with wide eyes, "You _didn’t_!" Zayn tilts his head once he hears a loud scream and he smiles widely, now _that's_ what he wanted to hear. He wishes he could go and see his expression but he has far more important things to do for now.

Niall hurries out of the room and Zayn frowns, "Wait, we don't have time … Niall!" he shouts after him as he groans and follows the blonde. Niall gasps loudly and hurries to Liam's side trying somehow to stop the pain. Zayn leans on the wall watching the pleasant scene, hearing those pleasant voices and he hums to Liam's screams of pain.

"The hell did you do?!" Niall shouts with teary eyes, and each time he tries to stop the poison from spreading it doesn't work. Niall turns to glare at Zayn, "I'm going to _murder_ you" Zayn snaps out of his dreams then turns to Niall and his smile falters.

"You can't really kill me. I'm actually much stronger than you are right now" Niall can't believe that Harry broke his seal but he gathers his thoughts together and calms himself down, he needs to help Liam first.

"If you want your precious wings back, you're going to tell me how to stop this" Niall spits through gritted teeth as the guards starts entering the room. Zayn sighs and moves closely to Niall. He can definitely kill Liam later once he got his wings back, it's a win win for him. He gets to hear Liam screaming _twice_. So he smiles reversing his own magic to pull out of Liam and Niall quickly starts working on healing him. They discard the guards saying that everything is alright, despite that Niall wanted nothing more than to order them to arrest Zayn, but he knows that Zayn would find a way out now that he got his magic back.

Niall turns to Zayn and he has this sinister smile on his face and he can't believe that the Zayn he used to know turned to _this_ person in front of him. Zayn moves closer to Niall and glances at Liam, "I don't know why you keep standing by his side. He was ready to take me back" he then turns to Niall, "You're wasting your time on someone who _can't_ return your feelings" his hands sneak to Niall's inner thigh and he traces his fingers ever so slowly as he moves closer to Niall, "You should be appreciated by someone who is ready to give you _more_ "

Niall gasps when Zayn's finger press lightly on his thighs and Zayn takes it as an opportunity to shove his tongue inside Niall's mouth. Niall isn't sure if Zayn is using a spell or not but he closes his eyes and sucks eagerly at Zayn's tongue when he pulls away. "We can do so much together, Ni. What do you say?" Niall flutters his eyes open and Zayn is still close.

"Should've known" They both turn to see _Harry_ , and he's glaring at Zayn specifically, but also at Niall. Niall's eyes widen and he can remember Harry is having feelings for Zayn, and that he shouldn't have done that. Zayn on the other side takes a deep breath then looks down. He didn't want to hurt Harry, he hadn't meant to, he was going away, and he had to get Niall to help him to get his wings back. He simply did what he had to do, but he knows. From the way Harry is looking at him, that he wouldn't believe him anymore. That he gained an enemy he _can't_ face.

Harry moves from his place towards Zayn who jumps backwards. It's _futile_ to face someone he can't defeat so he looks for an _escape_. He tries using his powers to give him another speed boost so he can manage to run away but Harry spreads his wings and manages to block his way. His fist comes too fast that Zayn manages to block with his arms but still flies back and his back hits the wall. He doesn't fall to the ground though, because Harry got his grip on his neck making his feet barely touching the ground.

"I don't like to be played with" Harry says in a deep tone while glaring at Zayn. Zayn manages to have a look at Niall sending a silent plea but Niall _shrugs_.

"Warned ya" Harry turns to him, still having his grip on Zayn's neck who's having a hard time breathing.

"You're the one to talk" making Niall switch his gaze from Zayn to him, "I can't believe you were teaming up with him" Harry turns back to Zayn then drops him to the ground. Zayn gasps for air.

"I didn't team up with him!" Niall protests, "For all I know he only wanted me to have his wings back" he turns to Zayn who glares at him in return.

"Should've known you won't do it. You better pray for me not to come for you" Zayn says bitterly, "Or him" he smirks nodding at Liam.

"That _if_ you made it alive" Harry fires back picking him, "Which you _won't_. Say your final prayers" he throws him towards the window and Zayn tries to focus on gathering his magic at one spot to ensure him a safe landing. He quickly picks the glass shreds that got caught in his body but Harry is soon by his side.

His eyes widen and he backs away quickly, "Harry, just let me explain" he puts his hands in front of him but Harry only moves forward. "I swear I didn't play you" he trips and falls backwards, his magic is running out, and he is too weak to face Harry, and he doesn't know any other way out other than try and talk Harry out of it. Which seems to be not working as Harry picks him up again throwing him towards a tree.

Zayn is sure he is about to die, and it's like he's seeing this for a second time. "I … only know Niall because he helped me out of this place" he says panting as he tries to sit back up, "The Elders came for me, sealed my magic and cut my wings" Harry doesn't seem fazed by any of it as he balls his fist and he's about to land another hit, "I was taken by someone who sold me to Liam who in turn made me his sex slave" he shuts his eyes and the blow _doesn't_ come his way.

He slowly opens them and he can see Harry lowering his fist, "That day when you found me I got raped and apparently lost consciousness" at least Harry isn't attacking him anymore, "Before tonight, it never crossed my mind that you are capable of unsealing my magic. Whatever we did before that … I _wanted_ it"

"Listen" Harry starts, "You were just a stupid crush, and I don't believe a word from what you're saying now, so just save it"

"Yet you kept hearing me" Zayn fires back but Harry doesn’t move, "Call it what you want, but you wanted it too … you _still_ do" Harry does move this time grabbing Zayn by his shirt and slamming him back to the tree.

"Don't play games with me. With _us_. You just needed something from us, got it, and left. You're just a filthy creature. You're only talking because you know very well you _can't_ beat me"

"You're right about the part that I can't beat you. But I _didn't_ want anything from you. You willingly did whatever you did. You can call me whatever you want, but you can't deny that I'm _not_ lying to you. My feelings were _honest_ , and I didn't _need_ anything back from you whenever we were together"

"Right. Like the time when I unsealed your magic?" Harry counters. Zayn sighs. "And what _honesty_ are you talking about? You even brought Niall to your filthy game"

"You're jealous?" Zayn smirks earning a kick to his stomach, Harry leaves him to fall to the ground groaning in pain. "Proves it" he manages to say and tries to chuckle but it turns to another groan of pain. "I prefer to call it 'me showing my gratitude for him helping me escape this hell' instead of whatever you're thinking about"

"No, it's rather 'you trying to get in his pants for him to help you get what you want' kind of thing"

Zayn manages to sit with an amused grin, "Wow, so much for a stupid crush" it fades quickly though as Harry cracks his knuckles sending another blow to Zayn's face. "Oh god" he mumbles into the ground. Harry haven't even used his magic and he's already giving him a slow death. "Okay … Time out!" he manages to say, his head hurts, his stomach hurts, his _whole body_ hurts actually, but Harry seems to _enjoy_ it.

"I _did_ want Niall with me so I can hopefully get my wings back. I mean you wouldn't understand what it's like to live without a part of your body!" he holds his jaw. It hurts to even talk, thanks to Harry. "Harry, I wanted to go away not because I didn't want you. I did it because you and I are _different_ … You … you're just … _good_. And I'm not. Harry, do you remember that painting in that shop? It wasn't a her because it was _me_ "

He manages to sit up with much struggle, "I really like you, but we won't work out. This … is like what you said, just a _crush_. You belong in the sunlight, I belong in the dark. Our worlds don't cross" he leans his head back still panting slightly, careful not to move his body too much or he'll hurt himself more. He closes his eyes, he is so tired, and he knows that Harry is probably going for another hit, but he just doesn't have it in him to move a muscle, not to mention that he _can't_ really fight Harry.

But it doesn't come. "Why do you want to stay in the dark?" Zayn opens his eyes then looks up. The beautiful night sky that he always looked up at, always admired, been always by his side. _Why does he stay in the dark?_

"Never been out of it" Zayn shrugs, "It's just my way of living" he drags his gaze back to Harry, "Harry I lust for _blood_. My pleasure is in hearing people _scream and beg_. I'm not your type. You don't know the _real_ me"

Harry steps closer and crouches next to him, "You just never tried to get to the other side" Zayn looks at him in confusion as he picks him up but more carefully this time, like he's helping him instead of pushing him away again. "And I'll be glad to show you" Zayn stands in Harry's arms with confusion still written on his face until Harry leans in to kiss him.

He isn't complaining, not what he expected but he isn't complaining. His body is still hurting but as Harry trails his mouth to his neck he completely forgets about his injuries, just sinking into the feeling of Harry as he grips his arms. Harry's hands move to his lower back then to his ass and he presses closely to Harry when he lightly squeezes his butt. A moan escapes his mouth as Harry picks him up pressing him to the tree behind him and starts grinding on him.

"What the hell?!" Zayn snaps his eyes open and he can see Niall's face completely in disbelief but Harry doesn't stop and he has to bite down on his lip to stop the voices that threatens to come out. Liam is also by his side and Zayn's blood boil again to see that Niall got him all _'good to go'_ again but it soon fades as Harry presses a kiss to the love bite he has been working on then dropping Zayn gently to his feet. Zayn doesn't know which is worst. Harry stopping his actions or Liam being alright.

"What kind of spell does he have on you?!" Niall half shouts and Harry rolls his eyes.

"Honestly, Niall. You should stop interrupting people" he turns back to Zayn picking him up and flying away. Liam doesn't bother to fly after him knowing that Harry can exceed his speed easily.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

"No! My chance of having my wings back!" Zayn yells and groans, "This is your fucking fault! If you haven't arrived and ruined my plan I would have got Niall!" he whines.

"So I don't fill your needs anymore?" Harry drops him to his feet once they're far enough. Zayn glares at him and turns to walk away.

"Obviously you can't give me wings, so no" Zayn pauses, "Unless I get to ride you, then I can attach some ropes to you and maneuver you however I want"

"Hmmm, kinky. Love the idea" Harry says in a deep voice in Zayn's ear while he wraps his arms around Zayn's waist. He goes to suck at his neck while his hands travel down. Zayn throws his head back over Harry's shoulder and his back arches when Harry strokes his crotch making him feel Harry's hard on against his ass.

"Fuck, Harry!" Zayn says breathlessly as he feels him grinding on his ass.

"Want me to stop?" Harry mumbles against his skin.

"Never" he turns his head and Harry picks his head up to dive in for a deep kiss. He starts unbuckling Zayn's pants and Zayn snaps pushing himself away from Harry, "We are at a top of a mountain" Harry blinks at him, "How far is this going? Cause I'm not having sex here" Harry sighs, he's been interrupted _far_ too many times.

"Fine. Let's head back" he extends his arms for Zayn who gladly takes it.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

"Can I ask you something?" Zayn smiles softly at him looking up at him through his lashes, and Harry was practically _dying_ to see that part of Zayn again. He knows it isn't a simple crush, and he can't help it, but he wouldn’t call it _'love'_ no, that's a big word. So he hums allowing Zayn to ask whatever he wants to ask. "Why do you believe that I could possibly change? That I can fit into your world? How could you trust me so easily?"

Harry smiles, "Because I was once like you" Zayn tilts his head a bit and he looks too cute not to kiss him so he does, "I used to think like you, like creatures like us belong in the shadows. Like we should always stay away. People described as _barbarians!_ But I didn't want it. One day I just thought of running away, and I've seen better aspects of the world. Even met better people. Not everyone thinks of us as monsters" he brings Zayn closer to him.

"That's why I want to show you. That you don't belong in the dark. That you can have a better life" he sneaks a hand under Zayn's shirt, "That there are other stuff to lust for other than blood" he smirks pushing Zayn on his back gently, making the latter chuckle. He trails small kisses over his face and neck making Zayn giggle.

"Have my wings" he mumbles as he places his forehead against Zayn's. "I'll take you wherever you want to go"

"You'll run away with me? Just the two of us?" Zayn asks looking up to meet Harry's eyes.

"Anywhere you want"


	8. <<7>>

_"What?!"_

Louis woke up to an empty house. He found two bags missing along with some of his and Harry's clothes as well. He doesn't know what happened after he blacked out in the forest so the first thing he did was going to Niall considering he was the last person he was with.

Niall told him what happened and Louis can't believe Harry's actions. He is certain of one thing though. _Zayn can't be trusted._

Niall shrugs, "He does what he wants to. You know Harry"

Louis paces back and forth while Niall sits there next to Liam. Louis suddenly stops, "They took bags … Obviously they're going somewhere far" he turns to them, "Zayn admired our travel books … They're heading for the airport!"

"And?" Louis frowns at Niall's question, "Lou, they might be anywhere. We can't predict where they went, and surely we can't search for them the traditional way. It'll take too much time, and even then we won't be able to find them"

"Zayn doesn't have a passport. He doesn't even own an ID"

"Harry knows people that can finish those procedures in a single day" Liam points out.

"True" Louis smirks, "But it'd take a _day_. That means they're still on the ground … The city!"

"You'll go searching ever building?" Liam asks.

"I don't need to. I've met a few of Harry's contacts, surely I can reach them in a short time. Come on!" Louis claps his hangs together and looks between Niall and Liam who in turn exchange a look.

"Um … I can't really leave my-"

"Liam" Louis quickly interrupts him. "You would rather stay with your soldiers than helping your friends?"

"No, I never said that, but-"

"He tried to kill you" That gets Liam to shut his mouth and avoid Louis' gaze, "He tried to kill me too. He was obviously trying to do something with Niall, and I'm sure he's also trying to do something to Harry" Liam sighs, "Plus. You _owe_ Harry" Liam's eyes snap up to meet Louis' hard gaze and he glances at Niall who nods at him, so he nods as well.

"Perfect" Louis smiles.

"You forgot one thing" Liam speaks up when Louis turns. "I can't really walk in the city streets" He points back at his wings.

"Who said you needed to walk?"

∞∞∞∞∞∞

Louis did find someone from Harry's contacts and he told him that they were already finished with everything. Liam helped tracing them from above, keeping himself hidden, flying from one roof to another. And if someone happened to see him. Well … it wasn't his lucky day.

They also knew that Harry and Zayn were now at the airport and that was their next destination.

"Morocco? Why would they go there? Was it random?" Niall asked as he glanced at Harry and Zayn's flight number on the screen.

"Zayn wouldn't go anywhere _randomly_ " Louis answered then paused for a moment, "The necklace" Niall turned to him with a confused expression. He noticed Zayn was wearing the necklace Harry got from there. He doesn't care if he took it on his own or if Harry gave it to him, but it obviously mattered to him, and he doesn't know why but he's sure it has something to do with his plans. _Louis didn't like it_.

"Book us tickets" Louis quickly told Niall.

"What about Liam?"

"Tell him to fly or get a car or a ship, I don't care" Niall raised his brows and Louis sighed, "Sorry. I'm just worried"

Niall nodded, "It's cool" then left to talk to Liam while Louis went to get them tickets. He was sure not to let Harry or Zayn spot them. He didn't want to start an argument with Harry, and he was sure the first thing he'd do when facing Zayn is to _kill_ him. Or try to, considering Harry wouldn't really allow it. He hates it. He hates how he'd spend ten years with Harry but Zayn totally broke all Harry's walls in just a matter of _days_.

But Harry wasn't ignorant. He did leave a note for Louis, a letter to be precise. Telling him that he is going away for a short time with Zayn but didn't tell him where, ensuring they'd be back soon. Louis didn't read it. He haven't even seen it resting on his nightstand. He had too many on his mind to think properly, and all that he noticed was that Harry is gone along with suitcases missing.

Harry wasn't a fool either. But he didn't need to put his guard up around Zayn. If anything, Zayn is _still_ weaker than himself and he could easily handle him even if Zayn showed no interest in Harming Harry or even tricking him into anything else.

Harry did have his doubts about Zayn wanting to go to Morocco. He noticed how Zayn used to stare at his necklace for a long time always looking like he's in deep thoughts, but he didn’t voice his concerns. He did tell Zayn about other places but Zayn always came back to the same place, but acted not very interested in the place itself, playing it cool with a shrug, saying that he never actually been to any other place than the town he grew up in, but Harry knew best. He still went along with Zayn's plan figuring he might know a bit more about him if he played along.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

"Louis, you're not thinking straight" Liam shook his head looking at the tickets. "We can't get outside … Have you forgotten about the barrier? Harry was the only one that is able to actually go through it"

Louis bit his lips, "I know, but if Harry made a hole in it, we can try to expand it"

"We're not that close, Lou" Niall reminded him. They got seats afar from them in able not to be noticed.

"Then we'll pull off a disguise, kick the people that are sitting near them and work it out"

"How? You'll throw them off the plane?" Liam raised an eyebrow.

"We'll throw them off _before_ they get on the plane" Louis smirked.

Niall looked at him in worry, "Louis-"

"I'm not going to kill them, Ni" Louis assured him, "Just exchange ours with theirs and we're done"

"You're telling me that Harry wouldn't notice us? Harry could tell by our powers, Lou"

"True but … He won't" Louis sighed looking down. Niall tilted his head to the side in confusion and Liam knitted his eyebrows together.

"Because Zayn would be next to him" Liam mumbled. Louis looked up at him, "I know … It's … distracting … _He's_ distracting. I've seen it. Been there" Louis sighs and runs a hand through his hair.

"Let's just get that done" Louis nods at both of them who nod in return. Each sitting off to do the task in hand.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

"It's … huge" Zayn says once they get close to the plane.

"There are even bigger ones" Harry whispers to him as they get inside and to their seats.

"A lot of people are here" Zayn glances around with his big eyes looking even bigger and Harry chuckles.

"Yeah. Since it's the fastest way to get to far places"

Zayn leans back in his seat and turns to look at Harry, "Do you always use these to travel?"

"Sometimes. There are also ships, and cars or buses. Depends on the distance" He shrugs.

Zayn hums tilting his head and resting it on Harry's shoulder then closes his eyes. Harry smiles at him. It's been a long day, and they haven't got any sleep. They packed and left quickly before Louis wakes up. Harry didn't want to argue with Louis knowing very well he'd oppose to the idea. And having both of Zayn and Louis in the same place would be too much.

Harry didn't make him do anything really. He booked a room at a hotel till he's done with the necessary papers and stuff. But Zayn was curious to see the city so he accompanied Harry through it all. Harry did tell him to rest before their flight but Zayn didn't want to miss a second. He'd never had the chance to see the outside world –being anywhere outside the town- so he kept himself wide awake, even if he felt tired he didn't show it that much, but Harry noticed.

Flying isn't something new to Zayn after all, and being in the air each time makes him feel alive. Sure he still wants his wings back, but now that he thinks of it, he couldn't hide and show it whenever he wanted to like Harry, and people would be terrified if they saw him, not to mention they'd try to kill him probably, or catch him. So he allows himself to enjoy it. With someone by his side for the first time. Teaching him stuff he didn’t know, or showing him places he'd never been to before. It's nice.

"Zayn" he whispered softly and Zayn responds with a hum, "You have to put on your seat belt, angel. We're taking off" That gets Zayn to open his eyes, moving his head away from Harry allowing Harry to do both of their seat belts.

Zayn stared out of the window next to him as they took off. The view was amazing, he could see the bright stars clearly even if there is glass between them blocking the chilly air he used to love and feel.

Harry was focusing more on the right distance so they could slip into the barrier at the right time.

Louis and Niall were also trying to do so. Having to be extra cautious at doing it at the same time so they won't be caught. Or worse, being thrown away by the barrier. They found a way to slip Liam into the luggage room without anyone noticing, and from there, he has to calculate the right time as well so they can all go through safely.

"Here we go" Harry smiled at Zayn as he turned to him. "Hope you enjoy the flight, angel" they all slipped through the barrier successfully.

Zayn chuckled, "Why do you still call me that? You know very well that I'm not"

Harry smiled and leaned in to kiss him on the lips quickly, "Because I've never seen someone so beautiful in my life" he leaned back and rubbed his chin, "Though I thought they usually have pale skin, light blue or grey eyes with white hair"

"You have never seen one?"

"Seen one from afar, didn't make out their appearance quite well. But I've read about them"

"What's written in books isn't true" Zayn scoffs.

"Maybe. But some are" Zayn cocks an eyebrow, "Confirmed by me" Harry smiles proudly, "Besides, I've lived too long and met many creatures. Been to places and done things. You can say I'm an expert now"

"How old are you?"

"How much would you give me?"

Zayn opened his mouth but closed it afterwards, "You can’t really tell from looks, Harry. You barely look like a human in his twenties. But I'd give you" he squinted his eyes at Harry, "454"

Harry laughed, "How did you come up with that? Honestly! Do I look _that_ old?!"

Zayn grinned and shrugged, "You tell me, _Mr. Lived for far too long_ " he bats his eyelashes at him and Harry bites his lip. Zayn obviously isn’t doing it on purpose, he's just playing during their conversation, but it got Harry to melt on the spot. And it wasn't a good sign, Harry didn't want to fall that hard. Not this fast either. And surely not for someone he just met and barely knows anything about him.

"Can show you my experiences in other fields" Harry smirks and leans in closer, Zayn smiles leaning back and glancing at Harry's lips.

"On a plane?" Zayn whispered fighting a laugh.

Harry pulls him in closer and kisses him fully then pulls back teasing Zayn. It works as he got Zayn to blush and breathing heavily. He looks up at Harry's eyes and he finds him smirking. He decides that two can play this game and licks his lips slowly getting closer to Harry this time.

"Don't start what you can't finish" he whispers against Harry's lips, his hands trailing down Harry's pants, and he can be a tease as well as he smirks, his hands applying a faint pressure that got Harry pushing his hips up then retreats and adjusts himself to show he wasn't affected by Harry at all, _which isn't true_ , but they're on a plane, and they can't do anything more with many people watching them. Although it'd be hot to have eyes on them. He has some dirty plans on his mind. He'd make Harry _beg_. He'd _wreck_ him. But not now.

"You don’t know who are you playing with" Harry's words interrupts his thoughts and he turns to look at him to find the smirks still playing on his lips.

Zayn knows. Harry is all sorts of _danger_. Something that he probably _can't_ handle, but he still got Harry exactly where he wants him to. Can make him fall on his knees for him. But something in his brain tells him otherwise. From the way Harry is looking at him, that he isn't the one in control, that Harry is also able to get Zayn on his knees for him, and what's more scary … Is that Zayn would do it _willingly_. A shudder runs through his body and he avoids Harry's gaze to look from the window again.

He feels Harry's hand being placed on his thigh and maybe he's overthinking everything, or he's probably tired. But he releases a sigh and turns to kiss Harry again, more deeply this time, then rests his head on Harry's shoulder once more, letting his own hands be placed on top of Harry's. Harry smiles and spreads his fingers so that Zayn can slip his own through them. Zayn smiles with his eyes shut and Harry leans his head on Zayn's closing his eyes for the moment as well.

He doesn't know what the future holds form both of them, but he feels a weird sensation at the pit of his stomach, it's not something bad, but it's not something _good_ either. Harry can't put it into words, he doesn't _want_ to. But only time could tell … And he'd wait to see.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

They land finally. Zayn is looking around with big eyes as Harry takes care of everything. They book a room at a hotel and both drift into needed sleep.

Louis and Niall book one as well. They managed to get Liam in through the window into their room for him to rest as well.

Louis was bothered the whole flight, having to witness Zayn and Harry's actions with each other and he was holding himself back from exploding on the spot and exposing themselves. Luckily Harry and Zayn didn't notice them, and even the people around couldn't notice Liam, so all was good.

He knew he'd have to follow them around. Especially Zayn. Only him if he'd be accurate, because he knows Harry. He also knows it'd be such a drag, but he would do it. For Harry, Niall, Liam, and himself. They'd seen the dark side of Zayn that Harry can't seem to see. They'd have to just catch Zayn in the act then they can kill him and go back to their lives. Words are easier than being done. He sighs allowing himself to sleep. They'd start tomorrow's morning.


	9. <<8>>

Zayn is in awe as they start exploring the country, with Zayn sometimes drifting away if something caught his eyes. They somehow end up inside a building and they pass a slightly opened room. Zayn stops when he hears the unfamiliar music playing and opens the door quietly. There are girls inside wearing uniforms, one is slightly different from the others. And they're dancing to the music, but he didn't see this type of dancing before.

"You should sign up in this class" Harry's voice come from behind him. The group doesn't mind being watched, as if they're preparing for a performance, moving in sync. Zayn admires it, it doesn't look random, but more of an … art.

"You'd look sexy in that outfit" Zayn frowns, it's girly. _No_.

"What's it called?"

"Belly dancing" Zayn nods.

"I like it" he smiles.

"So you'd really sign up?" Harry raises his eyebrows but Zayn rolls his eyes.

"I don't think guys take this type of class" he shakes his head.

"Who said it's only for girls?"

Zayn turns to face Harry once the group stops for a break, "Stop making everything about your sexual desires" they step aside as the dancers start emerging out of the room sending them polite smiles. Some greet them with a foreign language.

"What language is that?" Zayn asks as he enters the room.

"French mixed with Arabic. It's really hard to understand at first since they have an accent of their own"

Zayn frowns, "How do you communicate with them?"

"We're tourists. Some can speak English as well. And I have learned the language anyway" Harry shrugs. Zayn picks a belt set that was left behind carefully. "I still think you'd be a great belly dancer"

Zayn throws the belt at him with a roll of his eyes, Harry chuckles, "Never in your wildest dreams" He then spots a pendant much similar to his own, worn by one of the girls that were dancing coming back to the room. The girl smiles at him and he smiles back. He then leans closer to Harry, "Where do I sign in?" Harry knits his brows together looking at Zayn.

"What changed your mind suddenly?" He knows, had seen Zayn's eyes trail on the pendant, but he waits.

Zayn shrugs, "It'd be fun" he then smirks turning his full attention on Harry, "I'd allow you to watch" Harry smirks back. Zayn steps back and accidentally bumps into the girl. He's quick to apologize and the girl does as well then they leave.

"Does this place has a bathroom?" Harry nods towards the hall and waits till Zayn is finished.

There, Zayn quickly locks the door and picks up the note that was slipped earlier into his pocket when he bumped into the girl. He hopes Harry hadn't noticed anything, and he's sure that this girl knows something about his family.

_'Meet me at the roof'_

Okay. Harry would definitely see him. He needs to distract him somehow. He glances up to see an opened window. _Perhaps not_. Harry would have to just wait longer, if he didn't try to come in first. He quickly climbs out of it and finds the stairs towards the roof.

Once he's there he finds the girl smiling at him, wearing clothes that covers her entirely, only her face is apparent.

"Our time is limited. But you'll see us again" She walks closer to him, "Don't worry, we’re family" she hands him another piece of paper, "It's good to see you again, Zayn"

Zayn opens his mouth to speak but the girls hurries away. He has many questions on his mind. He's at a different country yet the girl knows who he is. _And family? Didn't they all die?_

He opens the note and finds only one word written on it _'Raoul'_ he has no idea what that means.

Another thought comes to his mind. He left Harry waiting by the bathroom. He hurries back to him.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

_Louis was watching._

He saw Zayn go to the roof but couldn't follow him. Apparently, there are some people who are related to him in some way forcing everyone away, and he didn't want to interact with them, not now.

Something blocks his view and he looks up to meet the person's eyes. "Long time no see. Thought you'd contact us first before you got here"

"Omar" Louis greets him, "Sorry, it just … happened" he tries to glance behind his shoulder to keep his eyes on Zayn and Omar follows his gaze.

"Who is he?"

Louis thinks for a moment then smirks, "Yours to have"

Omar raises his eyebrows, "What's the catch?" but not removing his eyes from Zayn. He _couldn't_.

"He'll resist a bit but …" he turns his head to look at Omar, "He's weak" The only reason he blacked out is that there was poison. If it was a fair one on one, Louis would have knocked Zayn down easily. He's not sure how he got to Liam or Niall, but he's certain he used twisted ways to be able to take Liam down. Poor Liam must've been startled to see Zayn again. He had won one time, Louis wouldn't allow it to happen again.

"A bit resistance is fine, but … What about his fellows? I don't want to get in trouble, Louis"

"He has no fellows" Louis might be lying about this one but, "I can assure you a perfect time and place"

"Why don't you do the deed?"

"I … have other stuff to take care of" Louis starts walking when Zayn is about to leave his area of view.

An old lady suddenly gasps at Zayn, "Evil! Evil!" she keeps repeating and the people around start to shake their heads calling for authorities to take her away. "No! You don't understand!" Zayn seems startled as well and looks at her in confusion. "He'll cause the darkness to return!" There are two men leading her outside and she's trying to break free but can't until she's thrown out. "You'll regret it! He'll bring the nightmare back!"

Zayn doesn't understand a word. Why would _he_ be the cause of everything she said? He might had a black agenda, but he's with Harry now, he'd show him another path. And what the hell did she mean by _the nightmare?_ He shakes his head walking back to the hall to find Harry.

Louis on the other side doesn't follow Zayn. What the old lady said made him freeze on the spot. He suddenly hurries after her leaving Omar confused.

He luckily finds her outside mumbling some words under her breath as she walks away slowly. "Wait!" he shouts after her and she stops and turns. "Hey" he says once he reaches her, "It's been a while, Asmahan"

The old lady smiles at him, "Ah … It's been a while indeed, my boy" She invites him to her house and he gladly accepts, motioning for Niall to take his spot.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

"So, how have you been?"

Louis nods, "Good. You?"

She sits with a heavy sigh, "Since I've seen this boy … Not good"

Louis knows her. Many of her visions come true, and he's scared that this one would as well. He clears his throat sitting the cup of tea she made for him aside.

"That … vision you saw … about the nightmare-"

" _Horrid_ … I thought he'd never come back … but now" she shivers.

"There must be a way to stop it" The old lady looks up to meet Louis' eyes and nods slowly.

"The boy with the black hair" She spits out. Louis leans closer. "He must die" Louis takes a deep breath. He knew Zayn was trouble, he should've killed him the first time he found him. "And soon"

"Soon? … How soon?"

"The vision is very clear. I'd give you a couple of days" Louis' eyes widen.

"But … That's impossible! He can't just turn him back in a matter of days!"

"I don't control what I see … He must die … now if not tomorrow … for everyone's sake" Louis gulps. This would be a hard task to do.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

Liam manages to follow Zayn from above giving Omar the required information. They need to get rid of him _now_. It appears that Zayn gets distracted easily and likes to wander around a lot without Harry by his side - _to their advantage_ , but Harry gets worried about him- And when they got a chance away from Harry's sight, Louis and Omar made their move.

Zayn is suddenly being pulled away but he's also fast to counter. He goes for a hit, the darkness of the night is surely not in his favor tonight as he manages to get a good one but something from behind hits his head as well. He wouldn't have fell from that but he feels the presence of another one injecting something into his body. His vision becomes blurry and his body goes numb. He feels himself being lifted off the ground and being thrown into a warehouse of some sort later after.

"Wait!" he hears someone says. "You can have him after I'm done"

"This wasn't the plan!" Zayn can swear that the voice is so familiar. _Louis_. His vision might be not clear but he can still hear quite well.

"I remember you saying that he's mine to have? I helped in this, you're lucky I'm not asking for another price" Zayn hears silence for a while as he feels his body's numbness start to slowly fade away, his vision is still blurry.

"Fine! But get it over with quickly! We don't have much time!" another pause, "We'll watch the area" he hears footsteps fading into the distance then another coming closer.

The person digs something sharp into his skin and Zayn feels it all, the numbness is no longer there. It hurts like hell, and he screams. The person is quick to cover his mouth with some cloth, then he hears muttering of words. And just like that, he no longer feel his _magic_. His heart starts beating loudly in his chest. It appears that The Elders are surely everywhere.

He thought he's about to die next when the person rips his clothes off, probably to torture him before he completely dies. _Typical_.

"Hmmm, soft" okay, Zayn didn't expect the guy to be touching him like that, gently, but he has a feeling that this won’t go well.

Something sticky comes in contact with his butt, and it slides in. Zayn hates it. _All of it_. And he hates how he can't resist now that his magic is gone and whatever poison they injected into his body made him physically _weaker_ that he is, and there are probably some sort of a stick that goes through his flesh, holding his arms down. He knows he's bleeding, that there is another seal is written on his body, and most importantly, he's being raped. _Again_.

Zayn's screams are muffled, but his pain is continuous. He doesn't know whether the stickiness in his ass is blood or something else, and he doesn’t care much at that point. He tries to focus on his escape, that probably he can escape somehow as the person stops and slides off him. He wasn't talking, occasionally moaning or talking about Zayn's body as he nips at the skin as he likes, licks or sucks. Zayn feels filthy and pathetic.

"Don't think I'd be satisfied from coming once"

Great. Just _great_. He is sure he'd be sore for _weeks_. But he feels _betrayed_. Like all his empty words are coming back at him. Where's Harry? If Louis is here with the others, he guesses they're Liam and Niall, and someone else he can't identify, then Harry must be involved in this. Of course he _would_. He shouldn't have trusted him at the first place. He always lived on his own, _when did he start leaning on someone else?_ He even feels more pathetic to think that he _needs_ Harry's help.

Suddenly the person's movement stops and he feels a heavy weight falling on his body. The sticks are also removed and he's being picked up by someone.

"Don't worry, Zayn. We're at your side" Zayn squints his eyes to try to see but his vision is still not clear.

The person leads him outside without being seen by the others.

Louis' patience runs out and he gets inside the warehouse to see Omar laying on the floor. He gasps and quickly goes to his side. He's not dead, not even hurt, just blacked out.

_"What the hell?!"_

∞∞∞∞∞∞

Zayn is given something to drink and some clothes to cover himself. Something is also being injected into his body and his vision becomes clear once more. The seal appears to be temporary and it fades away allowing his magic to come back.

"My name is Raoul. And you might be wondering why we know you" he spins around to grab a picture and Zayn now knows what the note meant. The picture is of his father and Raoul is wearing the same necklace as himself.

Raoul points at the necklace next, "It's a sign of our family"

"But I didn't have it" he quickly interrupts him. "I just found it with someone a time ago" Raoul opens his mouth to speak but Zayn beats him to it, "It was being sold at a souvenir shop!"

"We had a vision" Zayn gives him a confused look. "Of you coming back. It doesn't matter who gets to the necklace first as long as it leads to you at the end" He places the picture aside, "Your father would be so proud of you" he smiles but Zayn frowns. Sure, these people helped him but he doesn't trust who help him anymore.

"You remember what the old lady told you?" Zayn nods slowly, "That will be the rise of the Maliks once more" Raoul smirks but Zayn doesn't follow.

"The return of the nightmare? What the hell is that?" Raoul spins around to grab another photo and hands it to him. Zayn blinks at the photo.

"That's the nightmare" he tells Zayn and Zayn looks at the photo again. Brown feathery wings are spread. But he can't see a face. Only brown hair.

"What do you mean?" Zayn looks back at Raoul who leans back in his seat with a smirk.

"Do I need to say more?"

"I don't understand!"

"The nightmare was a curse. People feared him. He was so powerful that not many could stand in his way. Do you know how they took him down?" Zayn shakes his head, "They didn't. They couldn't" Zayn frowns, "He just eventually got tired and chose another path … The _good_ path as he once called" Zayn nods.

"And _you_ … will be the one to set him on his _old_ path once more" Zayn furrows his brows together. "You will lead the dark era, and have the nightmare as your dog"

" _He_ would follow _me?_ What logic is that?!"

"He _will_ follow you" Zayn stands up and attempts to leave.

"You're crazy"

"You'd see it with your own eyes. And if you want your family to gain its name once more, you _will_ work on making the vision come true"

"He was close to _killing_ me once! Do you think he won't do it again?!"

"Close" he looks Zayn up and down, "When did it happen?"

"A week ago, maybe"

"Exactly. Where are your scars from then? I'm sure it had been brutal" Zayn pauses.

"He _won't_ follow me. What reason makes him _have_ to?"

"Forces of the heart"

∞∞∞∞∞∞

Harry didn't like it when Zayn disappeared for a long while. He has a voice in his mind that tells him there is something wrong, but there is no trace of him.

A girl stops in front of him but she doesn't smile, simply handing him a piece of paper. Harry takes it cautiously. "Don't open it now" Harry frowns. She nods her head towards a road. "There you'd find who you're looking for" with that she leaves.

Harry does open the paper ignoring her words, but there is nothing on it. He recognize it's a spell and it'd soon fade away to reveal whatever is written there so he folds it back and puts it in his pockets. He still follows the path she pointed at and to his luck he finds Zayn.

Zayn wasn't healed, his ass is still sore, and his body is covered with many marks and he's in desperate need for a shower and a bed. He's tired.

Harry notices him. He notices him limping and he frowns. Zayn notices him and stands still. Harry walks to him. "Where have you been?" he glances at the love bites on his neck and Zayn has too many thoughts in his head to process anything else.

"Did you want to?" Zayn blinks at him, "Or did you get jumped on?" _Oh_. Harry is worried.

"Can we just" he rubs his face, "Go home?" Harry nods and they head back to their hotel room.

Zayn flops on the bed without even taking off any item of clothes. Harry sighs and follows him taking his shoes off but leaving his clothes on since Zayn doesn't really want to move. Or can't if Harry's doubts are correct.

He slowly runs his hands down Zayn's spine then to his ass and Zayn almost forgot that Harry is capable of healing as well. He leans into Harry and Harry is happy to take him in his arms, pulling the duvet over both of them.

Zayn lets his thoughts sleep for the night. Just enjoys Harry's warmth against him.

Harry hates it. Not having Zayn in his arms, no. He hates how Zayn looks vulnerable and small, even if it was to his advantage. But Zayn wasn't like that, and he doesn't understand why, but he hates to see Zayn looking so small than he is. Like the one time he found him at the forest, looking all weak, and getting advantage of. He finds his blood is suddenly boiling as he spots the marks over Zayn's neck, and can feel them under his touch on Zayn's hips.

"Zayn?" he tries to ask softly, and earns a soft hum as a response.

"Give me a name" Zayn's been raped. And he doesn't want that to happen. Not to _his little angel._ He promised Zayn he'd take him to the other side, and he'd take care of him. Zayn is like his little apprentice, a tiny image of himself at the dark ages, only weaker, but that doesn't matter.

Zayn doesn't know if he'd actually give Harry a name once he opens his eyes and they land on Harry's determined ones. He hates how he _wants_ to lean on Harry. How he _needs_ to lean on Harry.

"That's my business. And I'll take care of it" he turns to his other side and Harry sighs. Zayn would find a way to fight back. That guy earned his spot at the top of his death list. _The list_. He should really find those other three and kill them, no, torture them first. Or everyday if he can. The right path his ass, there is business to take care of first before he steps into the light with Harry.

And what light with Harry would that be if Harry himself is ready to fight for him? A shiver runs through his spine. Harry is ready to stand for _him_. No. He shuts his eyes tightly and Harry removes his arms from around him and gets up. Zayn might be regretting his words, he might have stayed silent and Harry would've probably stayed. _Great_. Now he wants Harry.

Harry on the other hand picks the note from his pocket and the spell is wearing off. He waits for a couple more minutes before the letters become clear.

_'Omar is your guy'_

Harry doesn't know who are the people that are doing this or for what reason, but he doesn't care either.

Zayn hears the front door slammed shut and he gets up quickly. Harry is nowhere to be found. He curses and quickly gets in his boots to follow Harry.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

Luckily, Zayn spots Harry and he hurries to his side, "Wait!" Harry stops and turns to him, "Where are you going?"

Harry doesn't answer and keeps walking, Zayn frowns and tries to keep up with his pace. "What was he like?"

Harry is determined, and Zayn is slightly afraid. "Who … I don't know" He speeds up his pace and stands in front of Harry, "I told you that this is my business, and I'll take care of it"

Harry stops and raises his brows, "You barely know anything in this country. You don't even know how the guy looks like. Tell me how in the world are you going to _take care_ of it?"

Zayn pauses. Harry is right. Harry shakes his head and walks past him, "You should be thanking me"

"Honestly, Harry. Give your dirty brain a rest" Harry turns to him with his eyebrows furrowed. Oh, he wasn't thinking about a _reward_. Zayn swallows and Harry turns back to continue his path.

They end up in front of an apartment door and Harry knock. Zayn doesn't know if Harry's calm demeanor should scare him or make him feel comfortable. The door opens and the guy glances at him for a second and he can see his eyes widening a bit and there is nerviness as he shifts his gaze back to Harry. That's all Harry needs to confirm that this is indeed his guy.

"Harry" the guy starts.

"Save it"

"I swear I had no idea that he's with you! I was just doing a favor for Lo-" the guy doesn't get to continue his words as Harry slits his body in two. Zayn takes a step back. Harry sighs walking inside the apartment to wash his hands from the blood. Zayn doesn't follow so Harry turns to him.

Zayn could tell now that the guy was indeed with Louis. He almost said his name. And if Harry wasn't in such a hurry he'd have known the rest of it.

"You bloody piece of shit!" he hears and he tries to block the hit coming his way but it was a good one that sends him flying over the window.

He removes his arms to see Louis, with an arm of a monster. So Louis is a shape shifter. He kicks Louis and uses his magic to land safely. Louis doesn't seem to be affected by Zayn's kick and he launches at him once more. Zayn uses his magic this time to block Louis' hit but something gets thrown on his eyes and he can't pinpoint where the hit is coming so he shields his entire body.

 _Wrong move_. If he didn't concentrate his magic at one specific spot. It's _useless_. He is not that strong, nor his magic is and the next thing he feels is something sharp going through his ribs. He opens his eyes to see that Louis' arm is now in his stomach.

He is not sure if he's dying yet but he can't see properly, and he is about to black out as Louis retreats his arm going for his heart next.

"Louis!" Harry gasps and pulls him away from Zayn. He tries to close his enormous wound as fast as he can but Zayn is already blacked out. At least he's still alive.

Harry turns to Louis then, "The hell are you doing here? How did you even manage to get to us? And why on earth do you want to kill him?!"

"He's obviously made the first step into bringing your dark side back and you're allowing him to?" Louis screams at him. "You just killed someone for him" Harry sighs. "He's missing with your mind, Harry. He's just playing around, you know better than that!" Louis' voice drops.

Harry picks Zayn in his arms, "I'm not a child to not know the wrong from the right" his wings start to form.

"Harry, you're doing a huge mistake!" Louis shouts but Harry ignores him.

"We'll take later" were Harry's last words before he took off.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

"The vision is no longer there"

"What do you mean? It's not going to happen? Did he die?" Louis asks quickly.

The old lady sits down and sighs, "The vision is longer there because it's no longer a vision"

"What-What do you mean?" Louis starts to freak out.

"The vision is no longer a vision because it's turned to a reality"

"There must be a way-"

"You can't change destiny. There is no other way. Darkness will rule … And all that we can do is watch"

"No … No!"


	10. <<9>>

The last thing Zayn felt was Louis' arm penetrating his abdomen, an immense amount of pain rushing through his body before the over loss of blood made his mind close automatically, vision going black.

If he knew better, he'll probably be in hell for all the things he had done. He's not human anyway, and he knows that creatures like them don't belong to heaven. So he opens his eyes slowly, feeling a soft material under his fingertips and when his eyes are fully opened, he's back at the room that Harry originally rented, and he can't believe he's still breathing.

 _Harry saved him it appears_.

But Zayn also notices another thing as his eyes glance up. Sitting on the bed next to him is a girl, seems young, maybe the same age as him, but she's not human, he can tell. Ice blue eyes staring back at him, an almost too innocent smile on her pale skin with pink tainting her cheeks naturally. A red tight dress that reaches halfway down her thighs and exposes her breasts, skin too smooth, bare feet, and long wavy golden hair.

"Ah … I can see it now" She speaks up and Zayn furrows his brows in confusion. "So we're alike"

"What?" Zayn asks, sitting up slowly, deep confusion is still written on his face.

"You're an _enchanter_ " Her eyes widen, ice blue turning into white as he hears the whispers of a spell he can't understand, her lips aren’t moving but Zayn can still hear it, and he almost wants to cover his ears to stop the whispers as he winces, pain shooting up to his mind, and there's a second where the girl retreats, lips parting as she leans back before her smile is back on her face and she's standing up. "Interesting" She hums.

"The hell did you do?" Zayn gazes up at her, "Who are you?"

"Testing your powers" She simply replies, wandering around the room and occasionally touching whatever her hands could reach. "You're a newborn, boy" She turns to him again. "Pathetic" Zayn turns to auto-defense. Her intentions doesn't seem well. "Playing around with your magic like that" She shakes her head, "Should learn to control it" The crease between Zayn's brows deepens. _He knows how to control his magic_. His fists clench, feeling his body is in a good shape –because he's sure Harry healed him properly– and aims directly at her. He's surprised when she only moves forward, "Shoot me, Zayn. Bury the knowledge that I own" Zayn actually hesitates, eyes widening as she steps closer, "Don't you wanna know what are you exactly?"

 _What is he?_ _And how does she know his name?_ Zayn is torn between wanting to listen to her and killing her.

"A hybrid" She answers before he asks, kneeling before him, hands on his knees as he lowers his own to rest by his sides again. "Born from a fallen angel and an enchantress"

"How do you know that?"

She smiles wider, "Do you really think that all of us have been stuck in a cave our entire lives? We never stay still. You're just too naïve" She stands again, circling him on the bed. "You're capable of using your father's powers, inherited his wings, but your mother's gift" _His what?_ "Don't you ever wonder why you have people falling at your feet without your conscious? Without even trying?" She whispers into his ear from behind, hands ghosting over the back of his head, "How you bewitch them in occasions?"

Zayn turns to her, still confused, "A gift?" He scoffs, "That's a curse!" Because if what she's saying is true, then no, he doesn't think it's a blessing at all. He got raped because of it. He shakes his head, "It's not even true. I would have the upper hand in each of my fights if it was"

"There are limits" She answers, "And you're not even casting your spell yet" She moves, body in front of him now, "We can reach the mind, mess with the facts" She brings her fingers slowly into his temple, "Make them believe they're falling for us" Her hands reach lower, cupping his face before they settle on his chest, "But we can't reach the heart, nor those who are capable of reversing our spell … But like I said" She cups his face again, inching further close to him, "They lust for your body. Long to capture your heart. Your spell can reach far to own their souls, but you can't force their own heart"

"And why I should believe you?" He narrows his eyes at her and she laughs, leaning back and hands falling from his face.

"You really think all the people you've faced have fallen for your good heart? They're only bewitched by your beauty, a surrounding aura that makes their attention focus on their desire, and if you learned how to control that aura, you'll own them all"

"And why would you help me?"

She smiles again, "Darling, you're too naïve" She repeats, approaching him again and whispering, "Because in this world you learn what to give and what to take" Her fingers trace his collarbones, "This is your nature. Accept it" She backs away, eyes turning white once more and Zayn isn't capable of moving his body, eyes never leaving hers as her fingers dig into his skin and he screams in pain. "Be true to who you are"

Zayn gasps, and in the next second she's walking back, disappearing into the wall as he tries to even his breaths. His hands reach up to touch where his skin is burning and he looks to his side, a mirror hanging there and his eyes widen, seeing something written on his skin. He quickly stands up, fingers tracing over the words tattooed on his skin, letters written in a language that he can't understand, and he doesn't have a good feeling about this at all.

_Where's Harry?_

∞∞∞∞∞∞

"He's dangerous!"

"He's weaker than I am in this state" Harry sighs.

"He's manipulating you, I swear- He's- There's a prophecy, Harry!" Louis retorts, walking around the table and standing in front of Harry, "Asmahan saw a vision. He'll be the reason you go back to your old self"

"I don't think that's possible, he's barely-"

"He's on some sort of a spell, I know it, Harry, I just know it"

"I would have figured that out by now if he was-"

"What if he's an enchanter?" Louis cuts him off, and Harry's eyes snap up to him. Liam is standing in the corner with a frown, and Niall shakes his head. Reminding Harry of them is not a good thing judging by the blank look in his eyes.

"That's impossible" Harry's reply is slow and calm but Louis folds his arms together.

"He made you leave your home in less than a day without a word to your friends. He made you break his seal" He turns to point at Liam, "He almost killed Liam, blackmailed Niall, and got me poisoned. No one has such effect on you to forgive him that easily, Harry. Zayn is not who you think he is"

"There's no enchanter with wings"

"He could be a hybrid. Ever thought of that? Of course not. He has you under his spell" Louis unfolds his arms and leans closer to Harry.

"First, I didn't leave without telling you lot, I left you a letter, Lou, I just didn't want any conflicts, which as I can see all of you following me here didn't make things better, in fact … Why on earth were you here?"

Louis blinks and leans back, and he knows that Harry knows that there's something in between the lines, but they don't look for it because they're supposed to be friends. "He was one of our contacts. I used them to get to you. I had no idea what he was doing"

Harry just looks at him for a moment before pulling his gaze away. "I don't know why Asmahan thinks that way of him, and he might have been corrupted, but" He turns to Louis again, "He can't fool me, Lou … Enchanters are extinct. I made sure of that myself, and ... He's a new born. If there was a chance for me then there's a chance for him and I want to help" He sighs again, and Louis wants to argue that their kind did not benefit the world in any way, but Harry wouldn't listen to him no matter what. He'd blame himself, he'd get distant for a while before he's back to them again, and maybe Louis should have faith in him, but he still gets that eerie sensation whenever Zayn is near, and he didn't get Harry here to lose him now because of one lost creature.

"Just … I was looking after a friend"

"I'm fine, Lou" Harry smiles at him, "But I really do believe that it's not necessary for all of you to be here" He quickly raises a hand to stop their interruptions, "Although I highly appreciate your concern. I can handle my own" He glances between the three of them. "Now, if we're okay" He stands up, "I'm going back"

"Harry" Niall calls him before he makes another move, "I know you are not easy to deceive, but I know how stubborn you can get concerning the things that relate to your past, and I'm not trying to push you but … As I believe in your abilities, I have to support Louis on this. The one moment of push and pull you feel around Zayn isn't normal" Liam's frown deepens, and he's about to say something but he doesn't.

Harry nods at Niall, "I'll take that in consideration"

The three watch him leave before they turn to each other.

_They're not leaving._

∞∞∞∞∞∞

When Harry gets back, Zayn pacing is the first thing he sees, arms folded over his chest and a hand resting  on his shoulder, tightening as he stops and stares at Harry with wide eyes.

"Where were you?"

"Taking care of a personal matter" He frowns, "Are you alright?"

When Zayn opens his mouth to talk, he thinks about telling Harry about earlier, but something stops him knowing that it isn't Harry's business to begin with. And besides, there have been a lot going on recently that Harry shouldn't know about. So he keeps his secrets because he doesn't even know what anything means.

He sighs quietly, a release of breath as he looks down at himself and dropping his arms. His collarbone still burns but he'd gone through worse. "Last thing I remember, there was a hole in my chest" He looks up at Harry, "I think I have to thank you for taking care of that. It appears that I've been thanking you a lot lately" He chuckles, shaking his head as he steps closer to Harry who tilts his face to the side slightly, narrowing his eyes at him.

"You should be awake in the morning more" Zayn gives him a confused look, "Your eyes turn amber in the light" Zayn blinks at him as Harry smiles, stroking a finger under his chin and walking past him. "Was thinking that maybe I get to take you to Château de Ain Asserdoun today!"

Zayn frowns and turns to him. He doesn't even try to ask about what Harry is taking him to or how he can pronounce it. "That's in the same country?" Harry nods. "Oh …" Harry looks up and his smile drops at Zayn's expression. "I was actually thinking that maybe our next destination will be outside this country?"

"Zayn" Harry sighs, "Just because you had one unfortunate encounter doesn't make the whole country horrible. It's a very nice place"

"Well, this 'very nice place' is making me uncomfortable"

Harry stares at him, and he doesn't know why he can't think of anything other than how Zayn's eyes are even more golden colored than before as he walks to him. Maybe it's reasonable why Zayn is feeling this way. And maybe Harry could at least comfort him by taking him away.

"Well …" He thinks for a minute, bringing his gaze away from Zayn's eyes to be able to, "Since we're in Africa … How about …" He locks his gaze with Zayn once more, "Egypt? I think you'll love it there!"

He smiles again at Zayn's confusion. He's never been there before and Harry knows that. Zayn just keeps blinking at him, an unconscious hand reaching up to scratch at his collarbone again.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

There's a weird feeling in his stomach as he stares at the ceiling, Zayn long asleep by his side, and he considers Louis' warning from before as he turns to look at him. Zayn couldn't have cast a spell on him. He's too weak to fight back. But just to make Louis shut up in his mind, because he knows he's been his friend for ages, he brings his left hand up, exposing his wrist, and he drags two fingers over it, a seal immediately appearing there. Just for self-protection, he repeats it in his mind as his finger applies more pressure on it and-

Zayn jolts awake beside him and he frowns, dropping his wrist, the seal disappearing again.

"What's wrong?"

Zayn pants as he sees her again, blinking once and she's gone, and he's back in the room. Harry's arm is circling him quietly, a kiss is planted on the side of his face, and he closes his eyes, breathing in deeply.

_'One look'_

The same whisper that has been shouting at him in his nightmare comes again, and he opens his eyes slowly, turning his head towards Harry. He hates the feeling he gets at that moment, but he leans in to rest his head on Harry's shoulder until he's calm.

_'One look'_

"Zayn?" Harry's voice is quiet, and it doesn't go over the whisper, and he has to shut his eyes tightly and try not to scream. He is really contemplating on telling Harry. Maybe he can do something about it. So he lifts his head up, desperately looking into Harry's eyes. "Are you-"

Harry doesn’t finish his question. Zayn's eyes are golden amber in the shadows of the night. But he doesn’t even think of why as he kisses him tenderly, securing his arms around him tightly and bringing them both back to lay on the pillows.

Maybe Louis is mistaken. Zayn is barely able to catch his breath alone after a nightmare.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

"They fucking what?!" Louis shouts. "And where did they go?!"

Liam shrugs, "The moment I got there, they've already left the hotel. Ni asked around, and all we know is they're headed to the airport again"

"Shit!" Louis pulls at his hair, "We'll never be able to catch them! And we can't even pass the barrier without Harry!"

"If we knew where they're at, we can still use other ways of transport" Niall states quietly, frowning as he watches Louis changing into a bird, "Where are you going?" Louis flies out of the window, "Louis?!" He sighs.

"So …" Liam starts and Niall turns to him, "Are we going home now?"

Niall gives him an unimpressed look. They both know Louis won't let them.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

"Can you find him?"

"The darkness surrounding him will always block my vision. My body rests at peace when he's far. And he's far away" Asmahan replies.

Louis grabs his necklace and pulls it out, handing it to her, "Then find Harry"

Asmahan stares at the necklace for a while, sky blue combined with green, then takes it from him. "Is this what keeps him pure?"

"Can you find him now?" Louis ignore her question and she nods slowly.

"Far to the east" She closes her eyes, the necklace glowing in her hands, "Surrounded by two seas … A nation with one of the longest histories in the world" She opens her eyes, "Egypt"

"Fuck" Louis whispers. How long will it take them to go there by land or sea?

∞∞∞∞∞∞

Zayn squints his eyes as he looks up higher, mesmerized by how big the pyramid is in front of him.

"Was it built by giants?"

Harry laughs by his side, "No. Though some believe humans were of actual much bigger size than today"

"Humans didn't build this"

"Maybe" Harry shrugs.

"Why did they build it for?" He tears his gaze away from the pyramid to look at Harry.

"It's a tomb" Zayn's eyes go wide, "For a king"

"They were definitely giants"

Harry laughs again, "The passages inside the pyramid tend to disagree with your theory" He grabs Zayn's arm, "Come on, I'll get you inside. I know a guide who can let us pass without a group"

Zayn follows him, taking another glance at The great sphinx. One that Harry explained his original name, 'Abū al-Haul' or 'Father of Dread', which made Zayn believe more that normal humans did not build this, with a body of a lion and a face of a human. It could also explain the passages Harry talked about. Shape shifters are very common. But even Harry isn't that old to know.

The pyramid they're currently getting into is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza pyramid complex, it is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact. Zayn vaguely remembers what Harry told him about the history of it, but he at least caught the name of the king. Khufu.

"It is believed that it was actually even bigger" Harry interrupts his thoughts, and he just hums as they pass inside, tracing his fingers carefully over the strange letters and shapes on the wall. He doesn't understand anything of it, but they're mesmerizing nonetheless. Harry pushes him to move gently and he follows through a descending Passage. "It'd take us more than one week to explore the whole thing properly, but …" He turns to Zayn with a smirk, "It's not like they allows tourists to be inside on their own to do as the please"

"Yet you are"

Harry turns again, and he low whispers as they stop in front a huge passage leading upwards. "There's an unfinished chamber deeper" Harry points to the continuing descending passage, "And the queen's chamber" He points forwards, "Then the king's chamber" He points up.

"I'm still on the giants theory"

Harry chuckles at him and keeps walking. "This is called The Grand Gallery" He explains, "Pretty sick, huh? The whole structure?"

"Well …" Zayn stumbles a bit as his eyes are trained on the walls around him, "I haven't really seen anything like it … not that I've seen much, but …"

"You will" Harry replies, "I'll take you" He feels hands holding his waist as Harry whispers in his ears, and suddenly they're flying through the passage instead.

"Aren't there other people inside?"

"Not in this chamber. It is forbidden" Harry replies and drops him at the entrance. "Careful though, the air is very thin the deeper you go. It's also believed there is a curse that catches a few" Harry steps in front of him, "Mainly poison as they say, but I believe it's magic"

Zayn frowns as he looks around, "What? He's a king and built all of this for just … this?" He points at a rectangular granite sarcophagus, one corner of which is broken. The sarcophagus is slightly larger than the Ascending Passage, which indicates that it must have been placed in the Chamber before the roof was put in place. Unlike the fine masonry of the walls of the Chamber, the sarcophagus is roughly finished, with saw marks visible in several places.

"Well … it is a tomb" Harry shrugs, "For, you know, a dead body, but, it is also believed to contain lots of treasures which were stolen"

"So … That's it?"

Harry smirks at him again, "There's more than just it"

∞∞∞∞∞∞

Zayn lets Harry order for them at the end of the day once he'd seen plenty and got tired, which apparently, Harry doesn't feel the same. He looks over the pictures he'd taken of the walls inside the pyramid, eyes searching the meaning behind the weird shapes that are sprawled across everything they'd visited so far.

"Do you know what they mean? The weird shapes on the walls?"

"It's called hieroglyphic. Was a language of communication. It was the way they recorded their lives"

"And out of all the centuries you've lived through, you couldn't afford to learn such language?"

"I didn't have to" Harry replies nonchalantly. "Would you like to try a local dish? Now that, I can guarantee"

Zayn narrows his eyes at him for a second, contemplating on whether he should ask Harry more about it when he clearly does not wish to talk any further. So he hums, returning his gaze back to the pictures, and one in particular catches his eyes. He's pretty sure the writings on the wall did not resemble this at all, and he furrows his brows as his eyes scan over the familiar letters.

_'When you wake up at midnight, come to find me'_

He looks up at Harry quickly and the latter drops the menu he's holding to look back at him. Another glance to the photo and the writing is no longer there.

"Are you alright?"

Zayn blinks at the photo again, but he swears he wasn't hallucinating.

"Just hungry"

∞∞∞∞∞∞

Zayn flutters his eyes open. His vision is a bit blurry still, but he can see the clock hanging on the wall. _Midnight_.

He sighs, turning in Harry's arms and watching his sleeping figure for a moment before forcing his eyes shut, snuggling closer to Harry. But the ticking of the clock is louder than ever in his ears, and he pulls the cover further over his head to quieten it only to have it worse. Like the ticking is in his brain, forcing the sound into his ears.

He huffs, removing the covers again and opening his eyes in irritation then turning towards the clock. The hour hand stops suddenly and he stares at it as the sound stops, eyes widening to see the other indicators moving as well, all to stop at the same spot, like they're pointing at something specific, and he holds his breath. He's sure more than five minutes passed as he continues to stare at the clock, unmoving, so he sits up slowly, turning his head where the hour hand is pointing to find the bathroom. He takes a quick glance at Harry before standing up and heading there.

"Hello, Zayn"

He watches as the same girl from before stands there with the exact same devilish smile on her face.

"Who are you?" He asks quietly.

"Someone who's willing to help you" She steps closer.

"You're the reason there's a fucking tattoo on my skin that I don't know the meaning of" He spits out, already pushing his magic into his hands to attack her.

"Wouldn't you like to know then?" She tilts her head to the side, but he doesn't wait, fist already moving. But instead of hitting her, he's slamming a wall, and there's blackness in his eyesight for a couple of seconds before it's back to normal, and he slowly turns around with wide eyes.

"How did you-"

"You're still naïve as I can see" She smiles, sitting on top of the sarcophagus inside the king's chamber in the pyramid. "I'm pretty sure you've been here before. Harry likes this place a lot" She stands up and he's on guard again.

"The hell are you doing?"

"I believe we've proven that your magic does not work on me" She gives him a bored look before turning to one of the walls, "How much do you know about the pharos?" She turns her head to him, "Other than what Harry told you?" He stares at her with furrowed brows and lips parting on nothing and she shakes her head, "Do you know what these letters mean?"

"Do you?"

"I've already told you, Zaynie. We're not all dumb like you" Zayn clenches his jaw, and she smiles again, turning to the wall and tracing her hand slowly over the different shapes. "You're standing in a room that was once filled with powerful sorcerers. On a land where black magic was born" She smirks, "There were numerous attempts to enter this pyramid since the early ages, many of which have failed because they were dead" She moves to the sarcophagus, hands tracing its sides, "Fools who believe they caught the treasures of gold and silver do not realize what really lies within" She turns to him again, "They say … Once you open a forbidden seal, you're cursed to death, but …" She steps away from the sarcophagus, "If you're worthy enough, you get powers" She steps closer to him, "Which of them are you?"

Her tone is calm and light and teasing as she smiles at him, but he hates her, hates what she's capable of doing to him. "And why should I believe you?"

She smiles wider, hands extending to touch his own, and with another blink of an eye, they're at a different room, the bottom one, the one Harry told him wasn't finished, where the king was supposed to be buries here in the first place but was moved up higher in the pyramid instead as of a later plan.

"Look behind you and tell me what you see"

Zayn turns slowly behind him, another wall is facing him, one that is covered with shapes like the rest of them. They're organized though, like telling a story he does not understand, rows and rows of carved shapes. "I do not understand"

She stands beside him, eyes fixed on a certain row. "Do you see this?" She points at one shape in particular, whispering words he does not understand then looking up and he does the same, slowly, eyes widening as the ceiling reveals a painting, a person with wings, only there for a couple of seconds before vanishing again. "This … is how you're getting your powers back" She turns back to him, "Wasn't it always your wings that you desired the most to be brought back to your body?" Zayn narrows his eyes at her, "Well … What if I told you that you need no healer to have them back? And no useless sacrifice of another's wings. But yours. Your original wings back"

"How?" Zayn asks, astonished.

She smirks again, taking his hand, and they're back in the king's chamber. "First, you need to acquire power"

"How?" He repeats, frustrated.

"What is Harry?"

Zayn furrows his brows, " _What_ is Harry?" He repeats in confusion.

"Is he a human? Is he a healer? Is he a shape-shifter? What is he exactly?"

"I … don't know …"

"He's a thief" She says in disgust, "Takes what doesn't belong to him and makes it his" Her tone goes louder, no softness to her voice anymore, "But he does have the power. Had enough knowledge to acquire it" She kneels on front of the sarcophagus, hands resting on it, "And you … will be taking that power in the same way"

Zayn squints his eyes at her, "How do you know so much about this?"

Her eyes are sharp when they turn to him again, and he doesn't see her lips moving, but there are continues whispers around him that becomes louder and louder, and he is unable to stop them as he shuts his eyes tightly and tries to cover his ears. He sees her vaguely standing up slowly and making her way towards him.

"You _will_ get the power"

And before he asks any more questions, there's an immense pain in his chest, and his eyes fly open to see her attaching her lips to his skin, but he can't stop her, he can't move, and in the next second he can't see anything.

"Do you know what your own name means?" He hears her whispering, "It means _beautiful king_ "

He pants, blinking his eyes to be back in the bathroom, hands still covering his ears, and he gulps, quickly making his way in front of the mirror and pulling his shirt down to see a fresh mark of red lips in the center of his chest. He does not know what it means or who is she or what she wants from him, and his frustration is driving him insane that he wishes to hit something really hard to let his anger on, but the burn where those lips are is wearing him down.

"Zayn?" A knock on the door startles him and he lets go of the shirt to cover the tattoo again. "You alright there?"

He opens the door, collapsing into Harry's chest making the latter frown, and he holds tightly into him, arms squeezing Harry's waist hoping the pain would go away. And Harry holds him in return, hands soothing in his hair as he plants a kiss there, and he pulls back slightly to look up at him. Harry seems concerned as he cups his face, and all that Zayn wants right now is to make his pain go away, but the girl's words are stuck in his mind. He leans in, initiating a kiss that Harry returns, but Harry isn't using his powers, and something inside of him tells him to mind his own business and not tell Harry about what he saw, but why the strange feeling of _needing_ to tell him?

"I'm sorry about waking you up. It was just a nightmare"

"It's alright"

"It's midnight still but I doubt I'll go back to sleep"

"We'll see about that" Harry smiles, tilting his head a bit to kiss him one more time before he's pulling him backwards to the bed. He kisses him again, picking him up and positioning him in the middle of the bed. "What are your nightmares about?" He asks as he trails his lips to his neck, and Zayn wants it a little lower than that.

"I'd rather not talk about it"

Harry hums, hands lifting his shirt as he sits up slightly, and Zayn lets him, lifting his own arms for the shirt to be off completely, and Harry furrows his brows as his gaze trails on his chest.

"When did you get those?"

"Back in Morocco" He looks down at them, tracing his fingers over the lips to find them no longer fresh, like he had them over a week ago.

Harry looks into his eyes, "They weren't there when … There's no way you'd have got this in the short time I was gone"

"I used my magic to tattoo them into my body. I didn't go anywhere. There was this … book. And I liked how they looked, so …"

Harry narrows his eyes at him, "Do you even know what this means?" He points at the letters on his collarbone.

"They look cool" Zayn shrugs.

"It's Arabic. It says be true to who you are"

_'Be true to who you are'_

He almost gasps at the same words she whispered into his ears not this long ago, but he keeps his face composed, and if it shows a bit of his emotion then it's alright. He didn't know what it meant anyway before, and he doesn't know now.

"See? Cool" He nods and Harry shakes his head, and even though the tattoo isn't appearing as fresh, it still hurts. "I thought the lips are a nice add too, don't you think?"

Harry sighs, tracing his finger over them and shakes his head, "They're sexy in some way"

"Yeah?" He asks, hoping his voice will go lower as he intends it to be, mastering an easy smile on his lips and looking up at Harry behind his lashes. And it must've worked, because Harry smiles too and leans in for a quick kiss before he's kissing down his neck until he reaches the lips tattoo, and Zayn gets a strange feeling when Harry plants his lips over it, the pain of it slowly fading away as Harry hums and sucks at it. And he doesn't know how to describe what he feels next, because it's something flowing into his veins, and it's not arousal.

"I think I'm taking a liking to them" Harry speaks up as he pulls away, "They fit over mine" He smirks, looking up at Zayn.

Zayn traces his fingers over the side of Harry's face, watching his smirk fade away as he lifts himself up to kiss his lips. And they keep kissing for a long while until their lips are red and swollen before they fall asleep again.

There is more than one feeling that Zayn feels that night.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

He is still shirtless, and he feels Harry's fingers drawing random shapes on the small of his back, so he flutters his eyes slowly, a smiling Harry welcoming his view, and he sinks further into the pillows with his next exhale.

"Someone got a good sleep, finally" He hums, and feels Harry's fingers pushing his hair backwards out of his face gently, "We got a busy day today, so you have to wake up, angel" Zayn waits a beat and cracks his eyes open again, "We're taking the train to Luxor" Zayn furrows his brows. He has no idea where Harry is taking him. "You're my young apprentice and I promised I'll show you the world, now come on, up you go" Harry sits up on his elbow, still looking at him, but his voice is still a little above a whisper, and he leans in for a quick kiss, "I'll have a shower before we go, wanna join me?"

"I'll pass" Zayn mumbles.

"As you wish" Harry doesn't seem to mind as he stands up and heads to the bathroom, and Zayn watches his figure disappear as the door closes behind him and he closes his eyes again, turning to the other side, but his head hits a hard surface and his eyes shoot open.

"Still not enough" He hears a sigh and he sits up abruptly, snapping his head towards the voice, and sees her again. They're back in the bottom chamber inside the pyramid, and he notices there's a seal drawn around him on the floor, and he quickly looks up to find the painting of the man with the wings present for a short moment before disappearing again.

"How did you get me here?" He glares at her but she isn't fazed by anything he does, simply moving towards him and kneeling outside the circle. She hums, tracing a finger on the outlines of the seal then stepping in. "You said something about Harry's powers, that he's stealing from other people … You're doing it now, aren't you?"

"Oh …" She smirks and looks at him, "So you're finally catching up, darling? Took you long enough"

"Why?" He asks sharply.

"Don’t you enjoy power, Zayn?"

"And why would you give me that? Why help me at all?" He narrows his eyes at her.

She stands up and turns to the other side facing the entrance of the chamber, "You're one of my kind, and I simple made a promise to your mother" She walks out of the door and he pauses. _What? His mother? And where is she going, leaving him behind? Should he follow? Shouldn’t he leave instead?_ She turns with a smirk, "Are you going to stay there? You'll be lost by the time I leave, and not even Harry can predict your place, leaving you to your death, so move"

He presses his lips together and stands up then follows her, "How do you know my mother?"

"She _is_ an enchantress" She replies in an irritated tone, stating a fact that Zayn should be aware of but isn’t.

"And Harry?"

She stops for a second, and he swears her eyes are even twitching. _Revenge? What happened between the two? How come she knows the exact spell Harry used to gain his powers? And how can't Harry feel his own powers decreasing if he's using the same spell?_

"You're still dumb" She replies and stars walking again, and Zayn clenches his jaw. He _hates_ her. She stops at a wall before they reach the Grand Gallery, whispering some words, and pressing at it until it starts moving, and his eyes widen. Harry certainly didn't show him _this_. "Come on" She tells him and he carefully walks behind her.

The room is empty. It's much smaller than any other chamber he's entered inside the pyramid, and he watches as the door they came through disappear into the wall once more. The air feels heavy on his lungs and he breathes slowly as she mutters more words, making the walls shine with what seemed to be hidden writings. More of the shapes that he doesn't understand.

His own body betrays him, and he feels dizzy all of the sudden, eyes crossing as the whispers go louder, and he doesn’t want any of this- or perhaps he does. He wants power like she mentioned. He craves to have his wings back. But he doesn’t trust her is the issue.

"You'll thank me later" She turns to him again as he falls to the ground, and he can't even move a finger. He feels her hand pressing hard on the side of his hip, and all he can do is accept the pain once more, knowing too well there's another tattoo she's using to absorb Harry's powers.

His vision is clear again, and he feels the soft mattress under his palms as his face presses into the pillows. He hears the water running inside the bathroom indicating that Harry is still inside taking a shower. And he sits up, trailing his eyes down his body until they reach the heart tattoo present on his hip. But it doesn’t burn like each time she would ink a new tattoo into his body, which is weird.

He hears the water stopping and he reaches for a shirt to cover his body.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

The train ride is too long, and he sleeps half of the way there, body aching and too tired, like whatever powers he took from Harry last night was taken away from him and more. Which is probably why the tattoo isn't burning his skin. Instead, it's weakening him.

He still feels a bit better when they arrive, and Harry takes him on a Nile cruise before they arrive at their hotel. And surprisingly, his sleep isn't disturbed at night.

They visit The Karnak Temple Complex. Comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, chapels, pylons, and other buildings. Harry told him that the vast open-air museum is the second largest ancient religious site in the world. It consists of four main parts, of which only the largest is currently open to the general public, but Zayn already knows Harry has got his own ways to earn a ticket to all the forbidden entrances when he smirked at him while explaining that part.

Approximately thirty pharaohs contributed to the buildings, enabling it to reach a size, complexity, and diversity not seen elsewhere. Few of the individual features of Karnak are unique, but the size and number of features are overwhelming.

Zayn stops at The Great Hypostyle Hall, with 134 massive columns arranged in 16 rows. 122 of these columns are 10 meters tall, and the other 12 are 21 meters tall with a diameter of over three meters. Zayn didn't really pay attention to the numbers when Harry told him, his eyes are just focused on the structure of it, the different painting on them. He's attracted by the outer walls which depict scenes of battle, Seti I on the north and Ramesses II on the south, although these reliefs had religious and ideological functions.

Another thing catches his eyes though. Through the scenes he can somewhat understand, a moving figure on each column annoys him greatly. It's her, he knows that much. Using magic unknown to him to follow him around through the walls. Her smirk is too obvious when he looks at her. But she also disappears every time Harry turns towards the same column he's staring at.

Harry takes him to the east of the main complex, outside the walls of the Amun-Re precinct. It's nearly nothing, but Harry tells him it's the Temple of Amenhotep IV which was destroyed immediately after the death of its builder, who had attempted to overcome the powerful priesthood who had gained control over Egypt before his reign. It's deliberately dismantled. The priesthood of that temple regained their powerful position as soon as Akhenaten died, and were instrumental in destroying many records of his existence.

He can spot a few people a bit far from them, ones that Harry sneaked behind their backs to get them here. He turns to Harry with a confused look, seeing the smirk on his face still as annoying as ever. "If it's destroyed then-"

"Shh" Harry cuts him off, stepping closer and glancing around him before he feels himself sinking, vision going black for a moment before he's able to breathe once more. Harry steps back, arms falling from around him as he spreads them into the air. "Now this … is the real temple" Zayn furrows his brows as Harry lights up the area around them. "Air is also not as available down here. But there are shafts" He points to one, up high in the ceiling, "And since humans are not aware of this place in the first place …" Zayn furrows his brows deeper, "Yeah, I used a spell to get us here. It's not a common place to visit for a non-human either" He shrugs, "Not everyone knows the spell. And even though, not everyone can access it"

"And how can you?" Harry turns to him, "How do you know that spell?"

"I knew someone who was present at that time"

Zayn's eyes widen, "Someone who lived across that many centuries?! I find it very hard to believe"

Harry laughs and shakes his head as he walks forward, "No. Someone indeed can't live that long" But his tone is sarcastic, and Zayn hates it when he isn't given straight answers.

"So what is this place used for?" He glances around, more paintings on the walls, but much clearer ones. Like it's a modern temple, like time did absolutely nothing to damage it.

"It was a myth at first" He stops at a huge wall, and Zayn's lips fall apart, barely able to take in all the scenes of different writings along with images of many creatures. Each row represents some types, the lower you go, the more the creatures are less human, and the higher you go, the more the creatures are becoming humans. "But when you're able to catch someone and force them to tell you … Well …" He trails off, still smirking as he turns to him at his side, "Let's just say it's a place where knowledge lies. It was and still a place that I come to very often"

"To learn new spells?"

Harry laughs and turns to the wall again, "No" Zayn stares at him, watching his expression change for a second before he's walking backwards and turning to the other side, "Anyway, like I said, the air isn't very much available down here, and you wouldn't be able to breathe properly for a long time, so we better hurry"

Zayn sighs, turning away from the wall and following Harry. He doesn't see her anymore on the walls, and maybe she doesn't have access like Harry explained, and maybe it puts him at ease to know she isn't around him anymore until they get out, and Harry leads him to yet another temple, one that's open to the public.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

Zayn is able to sleep the whole night through with no disturbance for a second time. The bed is empty next to him when he stretches his arms, and he hears a shuffling sound next to him so he opens his eyes to find Harry throwing a shirt on and he furrows his brows as he sits up.

"Where are you going?"

Harry turns to him, a smile on his face as he sits on the bed next to him and gives him a soft kiss. "I won't be long. Just need to take care of some business"

"And you'll leave me here?" He frowns.

Harry stares into his eyes for a moment, and his smile drops, "Are you afraid of being left alone?"

Zayn gives him the best roll of his eyes he could do and fixes him with an indifferent look. "I thought you're going to show me around. Go to all those places you've mentioned"

"I'm just meeting with a friend" Harry stands up again, "You wouldn't like to be there, trust me"

"Why?" Zayn turns as Harry moves around, "Who is your friend?"

"There's a barrier around this room, so don't go out, alright? It'll keep you safe. I'll know whenever it's penetrated"

As Harry walks closer to the door, Zayn finds his hands clutching the sheets tightly. _Is he afraid of being left alone again?_ _Would she be able to penetrate the barrier Harry put?_ But he doesn’t stop him, even though something in his mind tells him to test his abilities, maybe convince Harry to stay, seduce him, do whatever he wants. But he doesn’t. He watches Harry go out of the door and he flops down on the bed, pulling the covers over his head. Maybe he can sleep for some more time.

"Aww … Are you getting attached?" He takes a deep breath before removing the covers off him. So apparently, Harry's barrier is useless. "Come on then, or do you need me to get you out of your bed again?"

"Who are you?"

"When did that matter to you?" She tilts her head to the side, "You used to get what you wanted with no questions asked" Zayn huffs, sitting on the bed again, "Besides, today is the day, my love" She smirks, "You're getting your wings back"

"And I should trust you just because you take me to places and show me pictures?"

She stands up, "Well … Are you willing to let your chance go? To …" She looks around, "Be trapped in a room because someone told you so" She looks back at him, "Because you're weak without your wings?"

"You mentioned my mother before"

"We're both enchantresses" She shrugs, "I knew her. You're her child. Easy as that"

"Were you friends?"

She smiles and walks towards him, "We shouldn’t be wasting our time, darling"

Zayn presses his lips shut. Although he doesn't quite trust her, she is right. He needs his wings back. He needs to get out and be on his own. It all took a downturn just because The Elders cut his wings off and blocked his magic. He was fine on his own and he is going to be fine on his own once more. So he stands up, allows her this time to mutter a spell and reach for his hand, and he closes his eyes willingly, feeling the shift in the air around him before he opens his eyes again and he gasps.

"Were you using me to get access to this place?!"

She rolls her eyes, "Darling, I was here long before Harry even started to think such place existed" She tugs at his hand making him follow her, and they stand in front of the same huge wall of the underground temple. "I believe he didn’t tell you the reason he came here very often, did he?" She turns to him, "He used this place to transfer powers from his victims to himself. Well … Before he got another way to perform his spells without the need to come here, but … It's still a place he comes to because he ... It reminds him of his guilt, of his past. Before he got … Purified as he calls it" She rolls her eyes again and turns to the wall. "The temple was built here, buried deep into the ground when the original temple was destroyed. Hoping no one would disturb them, the sorcerers made sure it was impossible to even dig into the stones above this place. Protected by a certain spell, those who only are accepted by the sorcerers themselves can get inside" She steps away, "Now enough about history. We're getting your wings back" She smiles again.

And before he asks about anything she said, a circle shines around him, and he can hear the whispers again, but he sees something new. Around the circle, a star shaped seal is placed at four sides to create a cross, and on each star, there's a light image, a ghost, of what he assumes are the sorcerers she talked about. But they're chained to the huge wall, and there are writings that start to appear on the floor coming from each sorcerer, whispers going higher to be proper voices, muttering a spell.

He turns when he hears a scream to see her chained to the wall as well, and then he feels it, when she begins to say the words to the spell loudly, another echo of scream go through his ears, and he falls to the ground covering his ears, seeing the writings appear on his body, and the pain begins. His back is burning, two familiar spots hurt him the most and he feels his tattoos burning as well, a new one inking itself into his chest. He can catch on a certain word going over and over in his head. _'Thief'_.

He knows for sure that whoever built that temple did not wish for its magic to be used in such way. But he doesn't know anything other than that. Doesn't feel anything other than the pure hatred and rage that rush through him. There's a lie that both her and Harry are telling him about such places and he can feel a plea of help echoing through his head as well.

The pain doesn't stop though, and he cries out when he feels something sharp cutting through his skin, his flesh, his bones. And he opens his eyes, tears falling into the ground, seeing the seal start to fade and the whispers going hushed. His body is numb and he's terrified to move a finger, but his hair is suddenly pulled backwards and he's looking at the same ice blue eyes, red tainting the white surrounding them, and he notices a few scars across the pale skin as well.

"Move" She says breathlessly as she steps back and he blinks once.

"They're still talking" He mumbles, the whispers of 'Thief' going through his head again, and he glances around him to see the ghosts still present, still chained, unmoved.

"Ignore them. You need to move. We need to get out"

"The air …" He mumbles and frowns, still not trying to move.

"The Elders, you fool!" She shouts, and suddenly he's alarmed again. The name which's been hunting him his entire life. And he moves quickly, taking a moment to be shocked at his movement, no pain, but he sees blood dripping on the floor from his back. But that's it. The floor is way below him, she's looking up at him.

_He's flying._

"My wings!" His eyes widen, looking back over his shoulder to see his wings. And he reaches a hand to touch them. God, he missed them so much.

"We need to get out!" She shouts at him again and he snaps his head back to her, descending to the floor again so she can take them back.

_"Thief. Thief. Thief!"_

The circle doesn't fade away completely, and he manages to take a glance at the ghosts once more. He swears he sees their head moving towards them, but she takes a hold of his hand, and with the next blink, he's out.

"Thank you" He says once they're out, standing close to the original temple, but there're no people around them, the area is so calm.

She looks over him once then starts to look around her. "We're fucking late!"

Zayn furrows his brows, seeing someone approaching from the distance, but he doesn't see much. "What-" Before he gets to talk, she spins around, hand glowing with her eyes, and she mutters something again, probably a spell to get them back home, but she doesn’t. Her hand go through his chest, his tattoos are glowing as well when she does so, and he notices the wings tattoo on his chest, the new one, and he is unable to move once again. She pulls out his heart, glowing, which he doesn't understand why ad steps away. He hears a very familiar whisper next to him as he falls to the ground watching her disappear.

_How is he not dead with his heart out?_

His eyes lift off the ground to be met with the familiar figure of The Elders. He doesn't know how they found him, or what they're going to do with him. But he doesn't feel anything. His heart is out and he isn't dead and now The Elders are here. Did she deliver him to them? Why did she take his heart?

He hears only one word coming from the mouth of whoever approaching him.

_"Abyss"_

∞∞∞∞∞∞

"I can't believe you followed me here too" He sighs, "How did you even know where we are?"

"It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I'm here now, and I'm planning to get you back to your senses"

"Louis-" Harry sigh again, frowning afterwards as he cuts himself off.

"What's wrong?" Louis asks in concern.

"The barrier" He mumbles, quickly standing on his feet and heading out of the café, Louis following suit. "Shit!" His eyes widen as he look up to the sky. Compared to the sunny atmosphere of Egypt, the storm forming at a certain spot isn't a good sign, not when he can recognize the purple lightning coming from it.

"You believe me now?!" Louis shouts at him, "Wanna bet he's causing this as we speak?!"

Harry shakes his head, walking backwards to a hidden place so he can transform into a simple bird, and Louis does the same, yelling at him all the way they fly there. Dropping next to the circle of Elders with a complete spell performed.

"The hell do you think yourself doing?!" Louis pulls harshly at his arms, "You know damn well it's a spell to be drown in Abyss!"

"But he's-" Harry struggles with his words, seeing Zayn in the center, chained to the seal as an opening in the ground beneath him starts to form. He's got his wings back, which is something he doesn't know how he managed to get. "I have to help him!"

"How?!" Louis steps in front of him, "Killing The Elders? Would that help? You know the price of breaking such spell" He says in a low tone, glaring up at Harry. And Harry knows. He knows the price, but it's Zayn, and he doesn't know what happens, and he is blaming himself for leaving him alone in that hotel room. But Louis is right. He knows the price.

_A hundred pure soul to be sacrificed._

He watches as the hole widens in the ground, and Zayn's eyes widen as well, the seal drags him down, and the hole closes again. Harry falls to the ground.

_He can't save him._


	11. Epilogue

_ _

_Zayn's heard all about Abyss._

He knows that hell is a place where creatures like them are born. Heaven is a place for humans. Abyss is a place for the _lost_. Banished from life to live in another dimension because of your sins. It's dark, infinite roads, where if you are able to survive from other lost creatures, you won't be able to survive from the insanity of your mind. A second in Abyss equals a year on Earth, and is told to be connected between the past and the present of some sort. But so far as he looks around him, it's _empty_ , much like how he feels without his heart.

The chains are still around him, but not as tight, and he struggles against them, finding out that his magic is unsealed, which is weird, he's keeping his wings too, but he's never been so glad. No, in fact, he doesn't feel much other than the necessity of breaking free, not because he fears to stay in his place chained, but because his mind is reminding him of what he knows of this place, and he doesn't want to die.

_Even a corrupted heart will feel, connected to the mind, a place of forever suffering._

He looks up and spreads his wings, trying to see if the place he's at offers a shelter, away from the noises he's beginning to hear from below. There are others he hears from above, but he'd always preferred to be up, at least he's got an advantage. There are floating shattered pieces of the ground, and he hears screaming far away from him but still echoes throughout the place. He wonders if there is someone to guard such place from the inside as he flies higher, or maybe a ceiling. He reaches a small piece of rock that looks like a one-man sleeping cave, and he enters. It's empty, which is good, and he draws a small barrier around him to at least know if someone is approaching in case he dosed off.

He doesn't know if he'll die of hunger first, his memories second, or dead by the hand of another creature third. And he isn't willing to pay a sacrifice, so he pulls his knees to his chest and rests his head on it, his arms circling his legs as he stares forwards. And without a heart to feel, he tries to guess why he is still alive. Questions of why, why, why, goes around in his mind and he can't stop them. He already knows it's bad.

His mind takes him to when he was ten, when his family was murdered, when he last cried. He woke up the next day feeling nothing but the urge to kill someone, and so he did for the rest of his life. Like his heart was suddenly ripped off his chest that night while he was asleep and woke up with nothing beating inside his chest. And maybe that's a fact.

Then it was The Elders when they cut off his wings and sealed his magic. He really thought he died, but instead, he woke up with feelings of hatred and fear when Liam took him in. Like his heart was restored again into his body. Then he found Harry and Louis, the caring duo, or at least Harry did. Louis didn't like the idea of him being around then completely hated him that led into a killing intent.

Then he is here, feeling the same emptiness he felt when he was ten years old, after she took away his heart again.

He furrows his brows, looking down on his body, seeing all the tattoos inked into his skin, and wondering who is the girl and what she did to him and why. His eyes land first on the sentence she told him, 'Be true to who you are', and he tries to think of a meaning. An enchanter? Did she try to make him use his powers as one? Did the tattoo made his powers shine or something? Did the tattoo had anything to do with him at all?

The next one are the lips on his chest. Red, shaped like not his, like probably hers when she attached them to his chest and it made an appearance. It can be also related to him being an enchanter, but he doesn't know. And then the wings around them, inked when he actually got his own back. But for some reason, it doesn’t look like his at all, they're not the same shape, and he doesn't feel connected to it. Maybe it resembles freedom. But certainly not his. And then he has the heart on his hip, and he wants to laugh, because he doesn’t own a heart anymore, and maybe that's why it's placed on his hip, because his heart isn't inside his chest, and he's still living, which gives him a crazy idea of maybe, his heart is still out there someone. It can also refer to his nature as an enchanter. She once told him that they're able to own the mind not the heart. So it's pretty obvious he wouldn’t be having a heart on his chest.

She knows Harry, knows him too well, and she knows himself, also too well, and she knows a lot, so much that he isn’t aware of, and he doesn't even know her name, or if she is really an enchanter, or if her form is really her. He knows nothing. The frustration makes him claw at his chest, at his tattoos, wanting to get rid of them somehow until he hears a loud scream and he looks up again, alarmed, and sees on another floating rock, a creature eating another, and he gulps.

But he isn't scared is the thing, and he's getting an idea is the next thing. And he doesn't care if it took him a whole year inside Abyss to try and remember the spells he once heard or seen, and he tries to focus, closing his eyes again and forcing his brain to remember, which is a lot easier in Abyss. You're supposed to remember, it's what's going to kill you afterwards on your own.

Zayn acts fast when the creature is finished with the body and comes for him. He dashes out at it in the same time, using his speed and sharpens his fist with his magic landing a fatal blow into the head making it fall down on the rock piece next to the other body and he kneels next to it. He's only used his magic for either creating a barrier, making it a sword or a shield, never to use actual spells, not big ones, he didn't care then, and he blames himself for it, but also not, he was only twenty-three, not some four hundred genius. He'll try though. He takes a deep breath and opens the chest, grabbing the stopping heart in his hand and drawing a seal with the blood. He mutters the words he hopes are correct and closes his eyes, squeezing the heart in his hand and raises the other hand to cut through his own arm, making the blood mix with his own as it falls on the heart. He says the spell louder, repeating it over and over, and watching how the heart beats once in his hand before he feels a tornado approaching from below, and he's at the center.

The tornado keeps rising above him and he looks up, a hole is forming, and then it's darkening, screams echoing into his mind again, louder and louder, but he keeps his hold on the heart, mutters the spell again and shuts his eyes tightly until he feels everything calming down around him. A smirk on his face as he opens his eyes and sees who's in front of him, wide eyes as she looks around.

"Isn't fun when you're the one who's being taken to places without your consent, is it?" She glares at him, trying to stand up but fails due to the chains around her body, and he looks around as well. "Ah … I've never been able to see this but …" He lets go of the heart as he stands up, "Isn't this a memory lane? Interesting"

"How did you do this?!"

"Honestly? Luck" He shrugs and she narrows her eyes at him. "It's my first time actually so … Beginner's luck"

"There's no such thing" She replies sharply, "We're simply still connected, it appears"

But before she says anything more, there're lights changing around them, and slowly, the ground beneath them changes, next to the sky and their other surroundings, and Zayn stares at the same girl in front of him, one that isn't chained, one that looks exactly the same but with different clothes. It's a memory, the first that she thinks of apparently, and she stares as well.

She's not looking at him, and he slowly turns around to be met with familiar brown feathery wings. So they _do_ know each other. She stands still, other than the emotions in her eyes as she gazes at him, and Zayn doesn’t need to ask about it before Harry turns around, and he isn’t the same Harry he knows. This one has cold eyes, closed expression, with blood in one hand that Zayn doesn’t know to whom it belongs.

"Don't" He says in a warning tone, "I know what you are. Your magic doesn’t work on me"

"I wasn't using my magic" She replies simply and he approaches her.

"Right" He mumbles, "I almost forgot … All of you whores have natural beauty" Although he says it in a sarcastic tone, she remains the same. "Go away before I kill you" He turns and walks away and Zayn looks at him go before he turns to her again, and she's having her eyebrows furrowed. "Or …" Harry turns around again, "I can have some fun with you" He smirks.

The vision fades, the memory forming into another and Zayn turns to the girl chained to the ground once more. She doesn’t look happy about the memory, and she glares up at him when the memory fades.

"What do you gain from this?"

"Answers" He replies.

He sees her again, sitting in a chair in front of the mirror, carefully using a brush to make a drawing below her eye of a flower. The door suddenly opens and she smiles through the mirror before turning around. Harry doesn't even look at her face as he grabs her harshly and throws her on the bed next to him, carelessly ripping off her clothes, and Zayn furrows his brows at the scene. She's crying in pain more than pleasure, and when Harry's finished, walking out of the door without a single word, he watches as blood keeps dripping on the bed sheets, but she's not glaring at the door. She traces a hand down her body, blood mixed with semen, and she smiles. If he had a heart right now, he'd probably feel sorry for her as the memory fades.

"He was raping you"

"It wasn’t without my consent" She replies sharply, glaring up at him again.

"He could've killed you. You bled"

"He'd always heal me afterwards … After I …"

"You followed him first" He notes, "In the first memory …"

"Everyone wanted to follow him"

"You didn’t just do that … You fell in love with him"

She doesn’t reply, ducking her head to hide her face as the scene changes. He sees Harry again, a head in his hand, hanging from the hair, blood dripping on the ground, and she's wide-eyed, mouth gaped as she stares at him.

"That … That …" She tries to form a sentence and Harry simply looks down at the head.

"I hate your kind" He replies, "I hate everyone, but especially your kind" He throws the head away, "So I decided on killing them all" He turns to her again.

"You're not going to kill me" She laughs shakily.

"The first or the last?"

She gets closer to him, still visibly shaken, "I provide you pleasure whenever you needed" She raises her hands to rest on his chest, "I've been living for centuries. I could tell you everything I've learned, I could take you to every place I've been to, I could make you far much stronger than you've ever thought you might reach" Harry tilts his head to the side, "There's no on that knows you better than I do. I'll forever be by your side and never let go"

Harry turns his head to the other bodies lying dead on the ground then to her. "Wait here. I'll finish what I started first. Then we can make sure if what you're saying is true or not"

The vision fades and Zayn doesn’t turn to her. "Did you just sacrifice an entire kind for your own survival?" Then he turns to her, "Since you're the 'Oh, the greatest knowledge base who lived for too many centuries' yet you couldn't do something to stop him?!" He kneels next to her and forces her head up, "Tell me. Is it true that I'm an enchanter?"

"Half enchanter" She replies.

"How?"

"Your mother was a runaway, never seen in our village. Ran away with your father and never showed up ever again. Everyone thought she was dead until she actually died and left you … A half enchanter"

"Did … Did Harry kill her?"

"No … The massacre Harry committed was before you were born. Long before you were born"

"Do you want him dead?" He asks and she doesn’t even blink at him as the scene changes again, and Zayn lifts his gaze up to see Harry, with more emotion on his face now, tired, depressed, lost, angry, just so many.

He sees her too, walking slowly towards him and he lifts his gaze to land on her. "What're you thinking of, my love?"

Harry furrows his brows, pushing past her once she tries to touch him, and Zayn sees the surprised face she makes. "I've been shedding too much blood" He shakes his head, "I've ruined everything!" He shouts, "I wiped out almost too many kinds to count!" He turns to her, "I'll be living in a world alone!"

"You're not alone" She frowns, "I'm with you!"

"You …" He points at her, voice getting lower, "You made me a monster"

"You were already a monster"

Harry's eyes widen and he shakes his head again, "I can't be doing this anymore" He turns to leave.

"You're letting a low life creature affect you?!" She shouts after him, "I made you stronger! It was what you desired the most!"

"I don’t desire it anymore" He mumbles and walks away, and she keeps standing there, speechless.

Zayn knows it's the 'changing moment' in Harry's life that Raoul mentioned to him before, but he doesn’t have time to ask her a single question before the memory changes again, and he sees Harry, without his wings, a frown on his face as she pants in front of him.

"You're not leaving me"

"I told you, I'm not doing this, Cici" Zayn cocks an eyebrow. So that's her name?

"He's fooling you" She approaches him slowly, "That stupid blue-eyed shape-shifter is going to ruin your life"

"Stop-"

"Everyone wants something from you. You're the greatest that have ever lived. Anyone tells you anything other than this is a lie!"

"Cecilia-"

"You think he'll be better than I am?" She huffs a laugh.

"He's a friend"

"I am your only friend!" She screams. Harry stares at her for a moment before shaking his head and turning to leave. "He can't have you! You're mine!" She screams again and Harry stops.

"If you ever tried to hurt him-"

"You'll kill me?" She asks in a daring tone, "Like you killed my entire kind?"

Harry frowns again, turning to her and moving his hand around in her direction making some sort of a barrier.

"Enough of this. You should retire too. You've turned mad" He turns to walk away again, and Zayn swears he sees red in her eyes as she stares after him.

"You made me mad!" She screams again, "You can't lock me forever! I'll find you!" She repeats over and over until her screams are too loud and the memory fades again.

Zayn blinks and looks down at himself again, at his tattoos. "You took my heart the first time when my parents died" She doesn’t reply, "Then you gave it back to me after The Elders cut my wings off" He turns to her, "You wanted me to meet Harry. You didn’t give me back my heart, you had yours in me" She lifts her gaze up, "All these tattoos was not to get me to steal Harry's powers. You wanted to leave your mark in my body so you can get inside once you're able"

He gets it now, the meaning of his tattoos. Why the lips on his chest fits perfectly over Harry's. How the wings are more similar to Harry's. Why the heart is on his hip instead because she couldn’t reach his heart. And the words inked into his collarbone isn’t for him, nor her, it's rather for Harry, to be back to his old self.

She smiles slowly, "Look at you … Finally grown up"

"Why have me close if you wanted revenge?"

"Spoken too soon"

Zayn furrows his brows, "You don’t … You can't be serious? You're still in love with him after everything he'd done to you?!" he asks in disbelief.

"You don’t understand" She shakes her head with a smile.

"He was right when he said you've gone mad"

"I gave him everything" She starts.

"He used you in every way-"

"We were happy"

"This wasn’t happiness"

"Until that shape-shifter-" She spits out his name and Zayn connects the pieces together.

"Louis" He whispers, "That's why he never liked me. You used your magic for everyone to at least lust at me … But he never did. You couldn’t bring yourself to seduce him. You even made me try to kill him once!"

"He'd have been dead by now if I had full control over your body"

"But Harry doesn’t know you're in me. And he doesn’t want you back. So you had me instead"

"When you were born, a prophecy was told … That you would be able to bring back the nightmare …" She laughs, "Then my old Harry would be back!"

"And you made sure the prophecy would see the light" Zayn mumbles, "You know … I might would have been able to care about all of this if I had a heart. So, let's not talk anymore about this. Give me the answer that I've brought you here for … Where's my heart?"

She smiles again, that wicked smile of hers, "Back in Morocco. I made quite the deal with your mother. A contract in fact. I'd have your heart away from your body so you'll be able to live without sorrow. I'll protect you, and I would've"

"You didn't protect me" He scoffs.

"I've led you to the strongest creature on Earth!" She leans forward, "No harm would've come your way"

"You mean my body? After you've taken over?"

She leans back again, "A contract is a contract. A heart and a body. Ways in between aren’t mentioned"

"You're disgusting. I can see clearly why Harry abandoned you. You've already lost your mind the first time" She pulls at her chains.

"Now that you got this useless conversation. Get me out"

"Who has my heart?"

She sighs, "Remember the people who took you in? Who told you the prophecy?"

Zayn nods and stands up, "There's something that I've learned about Abyss … There are the unchained creatures who run wild, who are led by basic nature, with no mind or heart. And there are the chained ones, deep down in the darkest places … Those who have a mind and a heart" He pauses, "I had no heart, so I was able to break free. You on the other hand" Her eyes widen.

"You wouldn’t dare to leave me here!"

"Harry left you behind because he didn’t want to be attached to his past, I can see that clearly. If he'd kept you close, you'd have drawn him into his darkest sides again, and I believe that's where the prophecy leads to … If you'd inhabit my body. But he also couldn't kill you. He couldn’t bring himself to kill another being. That's why he almost killed me back in the forest when I was trying to kill Liam. It's the exact same reason he killed Omar. You were inside me … Partially. And Louis was the only one to see through it" He steps back, "He brought chaos in the past, I understand that part. But he left his past behind while you didn’t" He spreads his wings, "I hope you enjoy your staying in Abyss"

"NO!" She screams at him as he mumbles another spell, flying higher into the sky, and he knows he isn’t chained to Abyss if he doesn’t have a heart. And he closes his mind for the second the gate opens. And that's the trick. If he had a heart and stopped the second he was going through that gate, he'd have died.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

Zayn blinks slowly as he glances around. He's back at the desert, but The Elders are gone –which he's greatly thankful for– and he doesn’t exactly know how the portals in Abyss work with the present time, but he sees two figures far away from him, and he can see clearly who they are. He spreads his wings and flies to them.

Louis is the first to notice, or to act, Harry seems confused as he looks over him, but Louis steps forward, already ready to attack, but Harry holds him back.

"You're seriously taking his side again?!" Louis asks in disbelief as he turns to him.

Harry gives him a stern look before turning to Zayn, "Talk"

"Long story short, I met your crazy ex-lover, Cecilia"

Louis freezes, a frown on his face as he turns to him first then looks back at Harry, "You told me you took care of that … What seal did you exactly use?" He turns to Zayn again, eyes not exactly friendly, "And second … I don’t even believe you" He narrows his eyes at him.

"Wait" Harry says quietly, "Where is she?"

"Abyss. She's replacing me" He looks down at himself, "She made us connected somehow through these tattoos, and her heart …" He looks up again, "Which I need to remove them as well before she gets any idea of how to escape Abyss if possible. She knows too much about everything. I don’t doubt she knows a thing or two about Abyss"

Louis takes a deep breath and turns to Harry, "I'm giving him one chance. Unlock your seal and see if he's lying" He pauses, "Should've done this from the start" He mumbles and Harry rolls his eyes.

Harry raises his arm, tracing a finger over his forearm and Zayn sees the different seals written there. Harry locked away his own powers but has the key as well, it must be hard, for him to fight the urge not to unlock all of them at once again. Zayn knows if it was him he'd probably do that. He doesn’t like to be constrained. There's a line that disappears as Harry presses his finger on it, and his expression shows clearly he doesn’t enjoy unlocking his seal, nor does Louis.

He extends his arm over to him, hand resting on the top of Zayn's head and Zayn feels something going over him but can't quite determine what it is. Harry's brows furrow as he searches Zayn's memories, going over everything he'd seen since he'd met Cecilia. He eventually withdraws his hand, eyes trailing over Zayn's chest for a moment.

"Yeah. That's another thing. I need you to take me back to Morocco where I can finally have my heart back"

"Well?" Louis asks.

"He's telling the truth" Harry replies, but he's still frowning. "I'm sorry" He isn’t looking at anyone, and Louis sighs, hands rubbing at Harry's arms soothingly.

"You let go. It's not your mistake anymore" Harry shakes his head, "Hey, as much as I hate him, I wouldn’t want for you to relive this again. Just disconnect them, and we can go on our way" He turns to Zayn, "And if he wasn’t himself when we met us anyway …"

"Half of the things I did might not be me but, I wouldn’t know what I feel towards it anyway. I don’t have a heart as of this moment. So we might as well get it over with, like you said, then each can go on their way"

Harry exhales deeply, stepping close to Zayn and placing his hand over his chest, where the tattoos are. "I can't believe I didn’t notice before" He mumbles, adding more pressure to his hand, and Zayn feels the sting or skin being removed, but it doesn’t quite hurt, and he figures that Harry must've used his healing abilities along with it too, and he feels something deep inside of him being removed as well, like some weight being lifted off him, and he stumbles backwards a bit when Harry retreats his hand. He finds the tattoo on his hip also gone along with everything else, and he feels himself again, partially.

"Thank you"

Harry doesn’t reply, but Louis nods, "The faster we get this through, the better"

∞∞∞∞∞∞

All that Niall does is press his lips shut while Liam whines about the journey back and forth to Morocco. Zayn doesn’t talk much. Harry stays quiet too most of the time. And Louis doesn’t seem to enjoy the situation either. Harry locates Raoul’s place from Zayn’s memory, and they leave Niall and Liam behind again. Liam isn’t complaining though.

“We’re not harming anyone” Harry warns quietly, and it’s probably directed to Zayn more than Louis, and he understands, he just doesn’t feel, and that’s okay. It’ll be over soon. Zayn watches as Harry unlocks another seal with a blank expression before he places his hand on the door and mumbles a single word. Zayn doesn’t hear it, and he doesn’t think he’ll understand nor be able to perform whatever spell Harry used anyway, so he just follows him when he opens the door.

Surprisingly, what Harry meant by not harming anyone, is to put them to sleep, and Zayn glances around the place, few people lying on the ground. Harry grabs his arm silently and pulls him towards a room, and he doesn’t understand the look he gives Louis, but the latter stays behind.

Harry takes a deep breath and kneels on the floor, his brows are furrowed as he pulls the tile off, leaving no damaging marks behind, and extracts a small wooden box. He turns to Zayn with his fingers tapping slowly on it as he looks up.

“This is going to be too much for you”

“It’s for me to decide” Zayn replies, “It’s mine. And as much as I don’t quite feel annoyed, my brain won’t accept that a part of my body isn’t present”

“No” Harry sighs, “That’s not what I mean” He looks down at the box, fingers tracing it, “An enchanter’s heart is fragile. And I know you had one inside you, but the feelings were different. They were not yours most of the time, and your powers were triggered by an outside source” He looks up again, “You lost your heart when you were ten. Retrieving it now will be overwhelming, not to mention that your abilities as an enchanter would accommodate more with the original source” Zayn furrows his brows in confusion, “What I mean is that since you have no idea how to control your powers, it’d be a lot dangerous for those who are around you, and you included, sometimes”

“I don’t care” Zayn replies, “If you’re feeling guilty because you were the cause no one is actually here to help me with my abilities from my kind, then I still don’t care”

Harry frowns and looks down, “Zayn … I know I’ve done horrible things in my past life, and I know you’ll probably hate me more once you have your heart back, but I do not wish for any more suffering” He looks up again, “Cecilia might have had her heard inside of you. She might have made me do things that I once more regret, but that doesn’t mean that I have changed my motives” He stands up with the box in his hands, “I made a decision that night when I found you. I don’t care if Cecilia brought you to me, but I still see myself in you, and wanting to change your life to a better one like it was done to mine is still my motive” He opens the box, and Zayn is actually shocked to see a beating heart shining inside of it, “Your powers don’t affect me anymore for your information. I have …” He sighs, clearly displeased with the thought, “Unlocked some of my seals, but hopefully, as long as I stay near my friends, I have control over myself not to go rouge again” He pauses, “I know you don’t feel anything. I was hoping this reaches your mind first”

Zayn steps forward, “I believe it works best when my heart is connected”

Harry gives him a small smile, picking the heart gently and mumbling some more spells. Zayn closes his eyes as he feels something pushing inside of him, and there’re too many feelings at once when he thinks about anything and nothing in particular, but a smile reaches his face because the dominating emotion is definitely happiness.

“You know … Surprisingly, I don’t quite hate you for murdering my whole kind” Harry winces at that and he opens his eyes, “You’re not who you once were and I think that’s a good enough reason for me”

“So … What’re you planning to do now?”

Zayn shrugs, “I don’t know. Fly around …”

“You could stay if you want” Harry offers.

Zayn raises an eyebrow, “I don’t exactly have a good relationship with your friends”

“I still insist to have you as my apprentice”

“Because you feel guilty?” Harry stares into his eyes before he looks down with an expression of compunction.

“It might be one of the reasons, yes” He looks up again, “I can’t possibly erase my past, but you’re … You’re a sort of a light, a hope for me to … Try fix things. You’re considered an endangered specie”

“What if I don’t want to?”

“Then you’ll live a very uncomfortable life as an enchanter. You’re not very educated about your own kind”

Zayn frowns and opens his mouth to retort but nothing comes out and Harry smiles at him so he sighs. “Fine”

∞∞∞∞∞∞

Harry finds Zayn sitting by the window. They’re back in their house in the woods, Liam and Niall also went home, and even though Louis doesn’t quite like having Zayn around, he doesn’t complain much.

“How do you feel?” Harry asks as he takes a seat across from him. “Being back here brings back your memories along with new feelings?”

“I think I deserved whatever happened to me”

“You didn’t have a heart. You couldn’t feel”

“Yeah, but …” Zayn sighs, “I did lots of unforgivable things …” He turns to Harry, “Karma” He shrugs. “Don’t you feel the same?”

“Trying to make me feel guilty?” Harry smiles, although it doesn’t reach his eyes, “No need. I’m reminded of what I’ve done every time I look at you”

“You insisted to keep me around” Zayn notes quietly.

“To keep you safe”

“But you had your wakeup call”

Harry turns to the window, “I guess”

“I might not be able to read your mind, but you’re clearly upset. I can see that” Harry smiles again, shaking his head, “Are you feeling guilty because Cecilia is in Abyss?”

“She …” Harry trails off, pressing his lips together for a moment. “It’s not that I feel horrible because she’s in Abyss, it’s just that …” He turns to Zayn, “I had someone to get me back to my senses and I left her. I should’ve at least tried to do the same”

Zayn turns his head to the window again, “When we were in Abyss, I saw some of her memories. I couldn’t feel back then but … Now that I think about it … I don’t believe Cecilia loved you”

Harry huffs a laugh, “I know that” And Zayn turns to him with a confused expression. “She lived for too many centuries and has been with too many people. She loves power, and she acquired knowledge, but she is an enchantress, there are limits to what she can do. You can say she used me as a pawn to test how far she can go. I was someone she saw his potential and hated to lose” He turns to Zayn again, “I liked that then. I wanted to grow more powerful. I liked that she can give me that. And in turn, she saw her knowledge come alive, but I …” He looks down, “There is a time when loneliness isn’t exactly what you’ve dreamed of. When everyone is fearing you and none wants to talk to you, it’s just … What’s the use, you know?” He looks up again, “I was going to kill everyone and live by my own?” He shakes his head, “There’s a reason why we’re so different, why there are too many kinds living on Earth”

“Probably” Zayn mumbles, “I sort of wanted that one too”

“See?” Harry smiles at him, “There’s a lot of you that reminds me of myself. And I plan to change that”

“You know …” Zayn starts, “I was thinking about visiting my old home”

Harry stands up, “Then we’re going”

“Alone”

Harry seems to want to argue, but he nods, “Of course”

∞∞∞∞∞∞

Zayn missed his cave. The view he could have from there. And most importantly, the feeling of air passing through him as he spreads his wings and flutters them. Flying over the familiar area and looking down on what he used to call home. He was bitter, left alone, and a monster, but like Harry told him, it was the past.

He lands on his feet in front of the cave, his hands reaching up to clutch at his pendant as he walks forward. He knows his way around, and he doesn’t need to even light a candle to get inside, the fade light getting inside is enough for him, and he closes his eyes, turning to sit on his bed when he feels something next to him and he flinches, standing up again to look at the figure.

“Sorry. Couldn’t leave you alone. You might have gotten hurt, or worse … Dead”

Zayn sighs and rolls his eyes, “Because I’m the last of my kind … I’m not going to have a moment alone? Ever?” Harry shrugs. “Honestly … You lived all those years fucking an enchantress and she couldn’t breed?”

Harry frowns, “I didn’t stop her for your information. She just didn’t feel the need to, and I didn’t care at that time” He sighs, “She once told me that … She’s going to be unique. I didn’t think of what she said much” He mumbles the last part.

“She knew my mother was still alive, and I exist, so …”

“I’m sorry you got caught up in this”

“Well …” Zayn turns to exit the cave, “If I didn’t, I would have probably been dead by now”

“How optimistic of you” Harry follows him outside.

“I don’t understand how you can live like that”

“Like what?” Harry furrows his brows.

“Did you lock away some of your memories and feelings with your powers?” Zayn sits at the edge and Harry sits next to him.

“No”

“It’s just me then” Zayn mumbles, “It might have been easier if I had my heart, I guess”

“That’s not a good thing” Harry laughs, “At least you had an excuse. I was just awful … I don’t fear remembering everything I’ve done and feel bad about it. I fear if I do remember and feel nothing. It would mean I’m slipping away again”

Zayn hums, bringing his knees to his chest as he looks over the town, “And I’m here to remind you”

“I have my friends to think of now. And you … It doesn’t mean it’s bad. I don’t just look at you and think of how you’re an enchanter. You’re a person too, and maybe, after joining our little circle, you’ll come around as a friend too” He smiles.

“Your friends hate me”

“They don’t. And even if they dislike you now, despite whatever happened in the past, I believe you would get along. And you’re going to deny it now, but Louis would even be the closest to you. He has the biggest heart I’ve known”

Zayn blinks forward, gaze following a child inside the town before he turns to Harry, still smiling softly at him and he furrows his brows.

“I thought my powers don’t affect you”

“They don’t”

“You’re staring at me with that look in your eyes”

“You’re still an enchanter” Harry laughs, “Your good looks aren’t going to disappear”

“That doesn’t make me feel good” Zayn frowns.

“Relax” Harry nudges his wing with his, “I was never attracted to enchanters before”

“Really? Cause you seem to have a type” Zayn teases.

“I’m not going to deny that” Harry smirks and Zayn blinks at him.

“I was … Joking”

Harry leans in quickly and kisses him. “I wasn’t”

“You’re basing this on my physical appearance” Zayn scoffs.

“Not entirely”

“You don’t even know me”

“I’d like to then” Harry leans back to look in his eyes. “And you’re quite flushed”

Zayn glares at him.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

Zayn hates to lose his wings, it’s a part of his body, but he’s laying on his side with a body pressed to his back and he doesn’t find it uncomfortable. Harry showed him how to make them come and go as he pleases to feel more comfortable and be able to engage with people and walk normally among them. The only trick though is that he isn’t quite able to do that by himself. Harry does it for him every single time. Probably that’s what bothers him too much. What if Harry is gone while his wings are gone too? Not like Harry ever leaves him alone, but still.

“You’re awake” He feels Harry’s smile against his neck. Zayn huffs and turns on his stomach, closing his eyes again and sinking into the pillow. “Ah, come on, Zayn … You’re not going to sleep all day” Harry moves so he’s facing him again. He pushes his hair backwards and presses a kiss on his forehead, “We have a busy day today” He kisses his lips next and Zayn turns his head away.

“Stop doing that” He mumbles into the pillow.

“You don’t have to blush every time” Harry smiles widely. “Having no love interests before is not that important”

Zayn turns to him again, “Are you seriously calling yourself a love interest of mine?”

“I’m saying we’re on the same boat” Harry rolls his eyes, “And you’re still blushing” Zayn groans, burying his face into the pillows once more. “Are you scared?” Zayn frowns, “I know you’ve been raped before, and basically had your heart out for years but … You don’t have to be”

“Are you?” Zayn retorts, turning his head to look at him, “You basically lived for centuries without love”

Harry sighs, sitting up and pulling Zayn with him who groans and glares at him, “We could give us a try”

“Or you could leave me alone” Zayn replies, wanting to flop back on the bed but Harry pulls him closer and kisses him again, slower.

“Do you want me to read your mind and tell you exactly what you’re thinking of now?” Harry whispers.

“Right. Because obviously you do as you please”

“I didn’t mean it like that” Harry leans back. “Why do you keep blocking me away?”

“Because you don’t know me”

Harry raises his brows, “I think I know about you more than you know about yourself”

“Leave. Me. Be” Zayn flops back into bed and pulls the covers over his head. He hears Harry’s sigh and the bed dipping next to him before he feels a hand sneaking around his waist and a kiss pressing into the back of his head. And he won’t tell Harry, but it’s comfortable. So he turns to face him, finding a soft smile welcoming him. “Why do you want me anyway?” Harry smiles wider, “Other than ‘We’re alike’ and me being an enchanter”

“Everything is considered a part of you. Don’t neglect that”

“I don’t want people wanting me based on pure lust” Zayn glares at him but Harry still keeps his smile.

“I didn’t want you based on pure lust. But you should know however, it’s still a part of who you are”

“It didn’t bring me anything but trouble. I believe I’ll choose what I like or not about parts of me”

“Fair enough” Harry nods, “But I doubt you can change how you look. Unless you’re going to burn your skin and dislocate your bones” Zayn glares at him again, “You’re lost, I get that. You’re confused. You’re afraid. And I’m not saying that I like you because you’re an enchanter. I’ve had some … unpleasant experiences. But it’s not your fault you’re one. I like that you’re one actually. Not because I need a reminder of what I did, or to feel the guilt of what I’ve done, but it’s you … I just think there’s something in the way you’re too lost and vulnerable that makes me want to protect you, other than the fact you’re the last of your kind … Not entirely” He shrugs. “And I think the way you blush too much recently, and how you’re relaxed around me, how your heart sometimes beat faster, and the little sparkle in your eyes when you look at me, is probably giving me a hint” He smirks and Zayn ducks his head. He can’t deny that.

“It’s just because you’re the only one who’s spent that much time with me”

“Louis is friendly to you right now, and you still come back to me”

“I just …” Zayn starts but honestly, he has nothing to say. Harry lifts his chin gently, and he doesn’t know how to feel every time Harry looks at him with that soft smile. He blames it on his heart, being too sensitive. It’s what he is, Harry warned him before he gave it back to him, and he doesn’t think he could’ve beard to live without his heart, but he still doesn’t like the way he gets too attached. Harry leans in slowly, his lips are inviting, his hand is stroking his side softly, and maybe it’s the nights where Harry would hold him close, or the times he’d fool around him and make him laugh, or maybe the fact that he cared enough to help him through everything, that despite his past and despite what Zayn did, much like Louis, Harry accepted him. They’re alike, attached to the same past, and maybe the same future. So he closes his eyes, enjoying the press of Harry’s lips against his own, and maybe his hands are reaching up.

“Louis is out” Harry kisses him again, “Do you want this?”

Zayn leans back and frowns, “Aren’t we-”

“I’ll be gentle, I promise” Harry interrupts him, “You have nothing to be scared of”

Zayn parts his lips to reply, but Harry is kissing him again, hands getting him closer, then he goes for his neck, and maybe he missed the feeling, with his heart present now. His hands wrap around Harry’s neck, tracing down his back, and he pulls at Harry’s hair to look at him.

“Can you grow your wings now?”

Harry laughs quietly as he sits back, “You have weird kinks” Zayn blushes deeply, but Harry does it for him, and he sees those feathery brown wings again.

“I just … I like them. Guess I did the first time I saw them”

“Just my wings?” Harry pouts at him as he pulls Zayn’s pants down.

“Just your wings” Zayn repeats, a playful smile on his face.

“And here I was hoping for ‘Mr. Who doesn’t like to be attracted to only physical appearance’ to say something nice about me” He stands up to pull his own pants down, walking to the bathroom and coming back with a bottle in his hand.

“Isn’t the ‘soft talk’ is after?”

Harry cocks an eyebrow as he gets back on the bed, “Where did you read that?”

“You don’t realize it, but the hotels we stay at have some interesting books”

“Fine. Talk after” Harry spreads his legs and leans in to kiss him.

“Can’t you use magic in that?” Zayn asks once Harry leans back again, giving him a confused look, “Like …” He glances at Harry’s dick, “That isn’t going inside of me”

“Flattered” Harry says sarcastically.

“I can’t help it, you’re big” He pauses, “Or maybe I can-”

“Talk after, remember?” Harry cuts him off, “I promised I’ll do it gently” He soothes a hand down his thighs, “Lay back and relax, yeah?” He kisses him again, taking his time, and Zayn doesn’t object. He feels the tip of Harry’s finger at his rim, circling it again and again until he feels it going inside slowly and Harry leans back enough to talk, “Tell me how it feels”

“Aren’t you a healer?”

Harry chuckles, “I don’t think you’d like it very much that way. It’s a mix of pain that brings you pleasure” He thrust his finger in and out slowly, “You’re not entirely a virgin. You know how this works”

“So much for the ‘talk after’ thing”

Harry laughs again, but he tilts his head, leaving kisses down Zayn’s jaw and his neck, and he curls his finger inside of him, feeling Zayn’s breath hitch and his back arches, and he presses again at the same spot as he sucks at his neck, feeling Zayn’s dick against his stomach.

“Someone is interested” He murmurs against his neck. Reaching with his other hand to pump it slowly, his thumb pressing on the tip teasingly, and Zayn whines.

“It’s just been a long time”

“Can clearly feel it, babe” Harry smiles, inserting another finger, “Just relax” He spreads his fingers, “How do you feel?”

“Surprisingly good”

“Because it’s me. Of course you’ll feel good” Harry smirks and Zayn gives him an unimpressed look, lasting only for a couple of seconds before his brows furrow and he bites his lips. “That right there, would’ve definitely drove people crazy” He inserts a third finger and Zayn is trying to give him a confused look, “Your eyes are turning gold. Your powers are surfacing”

“I thought you’re unaffected by them” He moans when Harry presses at his sweet spot again.

“I’m just noting” Harry smiles, getting his fingers out and coating his dick next, “You do look beautiful though. Breathtaking” He spreads Zayn’s legs further, keeping a hand at the back of his thighs as he presses the tip inside. He goes slow, making Zayn feel every inch of him, making him adjust to his size, and he lifts his hips slightly, adjusting his own angle.

“Wait … You’re getting too deep, I can’t ta-” He moans, cutting himself off, and Harry pushes deeper until he’s fully inside, watching Zayn’s back arch, head thrown back, and his dick twitches as it leaks on his stomach.

“Your body seems to like it” He stays still, waiting for Zayn to adjust. “You alright?” Zayn opens his eyes slowly, lips parted, and he nods. Harry rolls his hips slowly, watching as Zayn bites his lip and moans again. He starts to pull out, slides back in gently, repeat his hips roll until Zayn closes his eyes again, enjoying the pleasure. He leans in, kissing at his neck as he trails a hand down Zayn’s chest, fingers teasing his nipples for a moment before they go down again to hold his thighs, and he snaps his hips suddenly forwards making Zayn gasp, and spills more pre-cum on his stomach, and Harry repeats that. Pulling almost all the way out and snapping his hips forward again, seeing Zayn’s dick twitch each time.

“I’m-” Zayn doesn’t get to finish before Harry’s hand is back on his dick, thumb going back and forth roughly over the slit, and it makes him clutch tightly around Harry, hands reaching up to get a hold of something, which happens to be Harry’s wings, and the smooth feeling of it is so good, he doesn’t understand why it feels that way, but Harry lifts his hips and goes straight for his sweet spot, and he moans louder, his grip getting tighter, and he feels Harry’s teeth sinking into his skin, snapping his hips deeper, and he spills his load between them, feeling Harry spilling inside of him, and it feels good, he’ll admit. Harry fucks him through it, keeping his pace and his hand on his dick until he’s trembling and whining.

A sound startles them outside the room, and he guesses it’s Louis.

“Harry-” He tries to whisper, ignoring the overstimulation, but fails miserably.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be this loud” Harry whispers in his ear and he bits at Harry’s shoulder to keep his voice down. Harry pulls out and gathers him in his arms so his legs can wrap around his waist, and he sees Harry’s wings spreading as he lifts them off the bed before they disappear into his back, and Zayn lifts his hand to see that he tore off some of the feathers in his grip. Harry doesn’t seem to mind that much as he enters the bathroom. “We should get a quick shower first” Zayn hums, “Or another round”

Zayn pulls away to look at him, “No. We should talk”

“Anything you want” Harry smiles at him.

“Not affected, still?” He narrows his eyes at him and Harry rolls his eyes.

“Why? You want me to be affected by your powers?”

Zayn brings the feathers in his hand to Harry’s face, “You didn’t feel me ripping them off”

Harry puts him down on his feet, “There’s a difference between being affected by your powers and me enjoying the moment”

Zayn huffs, “I can’t believe I even let you do this”

“You’re saying this like it’s a bad thing” Harry frowns as he opens the tap.

“There was a time that I swore on-“

“Was” Harry interrupts him, “Past, Zayn” He turns to him, “You’re the worst at talking out your feelings. You could’ve just said that I’m a very good person and I made you feel amazing. No wait, _make_ you feel amazing” He grins.

“You’re awful”

“You have a long way to go” Harry shakes his head and walks to him where he’s leaning back on the wall, crossing his arms. “I’ll be happy to show you the way” Zayn turns his head away, “Hey! I saw that smile!” He turns Zayn’s head with his hand, “And don’t you say that you’re blushing now just because there is hot water running”

“I’m not”

“You are. And it’s quite adorable” Harry smiles and leans in to kiss him. “Come on, I’ll clean you up”

Zayn smiles, stepping beside Harry and looking up at him. “I think I might be attracted to you too”

“Progress”

“Shut up” Zayn slaps his arm, “I was trying to express my feelings” Harry grins, adjusting the water’s temperature before bringing them under it. “Maybe … It doesn’t have to be small and secret touches”

“It wasn’t secret, but go on”

Zayn glares up at him, “You’re awful” He repeats.

“You like me” Harry kisses him, the grin never leaving his face.

“I’m just saying we could see where this is going”

“Fine by me”

“I’m serious”

“I wasn’t joking either when I told you to give us a chance” Harry looks at him, voice getting quieter.

“I still don’t understand what you see in me”

“Well …” Harry starts, “I believe we have lots of time ahead of us to show you that”

Zayn blinks at him and Harry turns him around to wash his hair, and his gaze finds the feathers, wet on the floor. “I thought you treat me like you treat a friend”

“I don’t have sex with my friends”

“It was still a good feeling”

“Told you, being a loner is horrible”

Zayn smiles, tilting his head backwards to look at Harry, “Alright. You’re not entirely awful”

Harry cocks an eyebrow, “Thank you”

Zayn turns to him, cups his face, and kisses him softly before he’s turning again and smiling. Harry smiles too but doesn’t say anything about it.

For the first time in his life, probably after his parents died, he feels his heart beating, and he’s not alone. And like Harry said …

_He’ll try._

∞∞∞∞∞∞

**A/N**

**I can't believe I've finished all of my published stories! Yay me! Now off to write some new ones!**

**Thank you for sticking with me so far <3 Leave your comment here, or come talk to me on [Tumblr ](http://fluffypiecake.tumblr.com):)**


End file.
